TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the trending stories in gaming. In today’s news: Over 4,000 developers have signed up to Google Stadia Partners; winners announced for the Develop:Star 2019 Awards; and the Nintendo Switch Lite not a replacement for the DS - Doug Bowser.

Over 4,000 developers have signed up to Google Stadia Partners

More than 4,000 game development companies have reportedly submitted applications to join the Stadia Partners scheme, according to Sam Cocoran, technical account manager at Google, who was addressing the audience at the Develop:Brighton 2019 conference.

The programme is designed to give developers access to a range of support options including workstation nodes (devkit), whilst producing their titles. While no specific list of criteria for approval has been made public, a key requirement is that developers are able to demonstrate aspects of their game, either through build links or by video evidence.

Cocoran stated on stage, “What I'd really recommend, and what is always well-received, is having a good think about the access the Stadia provides, which allows people to play across all these different endpoints and hopefully can widen the range of players that can engage with your game.”

Winners announced for the Develop:Star 2019 Awards

The winners of the Develop:Star 2019 Awards were announced yesterday (10th July) at a ceremony at the Hilton Brighton Metropole. Weather Factory, the company behind card-based game Cultist Simulator, took home three awards including Best Micro Studio. The Game of the Year award went to Overcooked! 2, while Best Studio was awarded to Sumo Digital.

The inaugural Develop Star Award was given to Sean Murray of Hello Games, the UK-based firm behind No Man’s Sky. Excluding this specific award, all winners were decided by a vote open to attendees of the Develop:Brighton conference, as well as those which were present in any of the previous three editions.

Nintendo Switch Lite not a replacement for the 3DS - Doug Bowser

Following yesterday’s announcement of the Nintendo Switch Lite, Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America president, has stated that the new console is not a replacement for the existing 3DS/2DS range of portable consoles. Moreover no plans have been made public regarding allowing 3DS titles to be played on the newer Switch Lite.

“The Nintendo 3DS does have a place beside the Nintendo Switch family of products, and we'll continue to support it as long as consumers continue to purchase them”, said Bowser in an interview with Cnet.