Devcom is the official gamescom game developer event and Europe’s annual ‚must attend‘ conference, paving the way for the world’s biggest videogames exhibition gamescom. This year for the first time the devcom Hero Awards were part of the diverse conference program. According to the organizers it is Europe’s first ‘Persons of the Year Award’ in the game industry. The winners were selected by a jury composed of game media and people that have a lot of experience in the games’ industry. Among the five winners of the awards is Philomena Schwab, one of the most prominent figures of the Swiss game scene not only because of the games of her Stray Fawn Studio but also because of her community engagement including her role as Vice President of the Swiss Game Developers Association. Asked about the significance of the award, Schwab said to Startupticker.ch: “Quite a few people approached me thanks to the award. So I’ve made some useful new connections which will hopefully be beneficial for the studio. And I got to give a few interviews about the award which is always helpful to put games on politician’s radar back in Switzerland - I hope!” Stary Fawn’s first game called Niche went live in 2017, Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor was released on Steam Early Access in October 2018. “We sold about 50’000 units so far and hope to finish the game in Q1/Q2 2020”, explains Schwab. In addition the team with ten people is already working on the third game which will be again in the simulation genre. Schwab co-founded the studio with Micha Stettler in 2016.