Microsoft to present first ever Windows Developer Awards at Build next month

Next month, Microsoft will hold its annual Build developer conference in Seattle, and this year’s edition should be pretty special for Windows developers. Indeed, the company has just announced on its developer blog that it will present the first-ever Windows Developer Awards, which will celebrate the creativity of UWP developers who released “exciting UWP apps” on the Windows Store last year.

The awards will be given in four main categories:

• App Creator of the Year: this first category will honor apps that leverage the latest Windows 10 features such as Windows Ink, Dial, Cortana and more in innovative ways.
• Game Creator of the Year: this one will be restricted to first-time publishers that released “innovative, engaging and magical games” on the Windows Store
• Reality Mixer of the Year: As you can expect, this category will recognize the best mixed reality apps for Microsoft’s new Windows Mixed Reality platfrom.
• Core Maker of the Year: this award will honor “those who go beyond the traditional software interface to integrate Windows in drones, PIs, gardens, and robots to get stuff done,” explained Microsoft.

Last but not least, Microsoft also created a special Ninja Cat of the Year award that will “celebrate the developer or experience that we believe most reflects what Windows is all about, empowering people of action to do great things.” This one will be selected by Microsoft’s Windows team, but all other awards will be chosen by the community: the company has just set up a dedicated awards website where developers will be able to pick the winners through Thursday, April 27. Microsoft’s Build conference is all about developers, so it’s great to see that the company will put them under the spotlight this year.