Independent Games Festival Explained

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry.[1] Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, and innovation in video game development by CMP Media,[2] later known as UBM Technology Group, IGF is now owned by Informa after UBM's acquisition.[3]

The IGF competition awards a total of $50,000 in prizes to independent developers in Main Competition and Student Competition categories and held around the same time as the Game Developers Choice Awards event.

From 2007 to 2010, there was a separate event called IGF Mobile for mobile phone games.[4]

Competition Structure

The festival awards ceremony is split into two broad categories: the main IGF competition and the IGF Student Showcase.[2]

The main Independent Games Festival, held in March 2012 at San Francisco's GDC 2012, distributed nine major awards:[2]

An additional award, "Excellent in Narrative", was added for the 2013 IGF.[5]

In addition, the IGF's Student Showcase competition gives out the following awards each year:

Prior to the Festival, developers have the opportunity to submit their game in a playable state to the IGF organization committee for a small fee. These titles are then sent to approximately 300 game industry representatives on the Nominating Committee; these representatives include both indie developers and more mainstream developers and publishers. Each Committee member can nominate any of the provided games to one or more of the categories. Then, for each award category, a pre-selected jury of between seven and fifteen members reviews the nominations and makes a final selection of six finalists (eight for the Nuovo award) and a number of honorable mentions.

The selected finalists are expected to present their games at the IGF during the Games Developers Conference; the show provides them a booth space and access to the convention, but finalists either must secure their own travel and lodgings, or name a proxy to demonstrate their games. During the convention, a separate jury selected by the IGF organization committee will review each game, and just prior to the awards, vote for one game in each category. The only exception is the Audience Award, which is voted through online forms by anyone interested.[6]

IGF Competition award history

Years given below indicate the year when the award was given, with the games or developers being recognized from the previous year.

(Main) IGF Competition

Seumas McNally Grand Prize ($30,000)

See main article: Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

Nuovo (Innovation) Award ($5,000)

See main article: Nuovo Award.

Excellence In Visual Art ($3,000)

Excellence In Audio ($3,000)

Excellence in Design ($3,000)

Excellence in Narrative

Audience Award ($3,000)

alt.ctrl.GDC Award ($3,000)

For games that feature unusual controls or user interactions.

Sponsor Awards

Retired awards

Technical Excellence ($3,000)

This award was retired starting from the 2014 competition onward.

Best Mobile Game ($3,000)

Best Web Browser Game (2006-2008)

IGF Mod Competition (2006–2007)

2007 Mod Awards

Best Mod ($5,000 overall): Weekday Warrior (Half-Life 2)

Best Singleplayer FPS Mod ($500): Weekday Warrior (Half-Life 2)

Best Multiplayer FPS Mod ($500): Eternal Silence (Half-Life 2)

Best RPG Mod ($500): Darkness over Daggerford (Neverwinter Nights)

Best 'Other' Mod ($500): Spawns Of Deflebub (Unreal Tournament 2004)

2006 Mod Awards

Best Mod – Doom 3 ($2,500): Last Man Standing Coop

Best Mod – Half-Life 2 ($2,500): Dystopia

Best Mod – Neverwinter Nights ($2,500): Rose Of Eternity: Chapter 1

Best Mod – Unreal Tournament 2004 ($2,500): Path Of Vengeance

IGF Student Showcase Winner

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Shiels . Maggie . Indie game awards showcase future . 28 October 2021 . Technology Reporter, BBC News, San Francisco . BBC . 2009-03-26 .
  2. "About the IGF", www.IGF.com.
  3. News: Informa to buy exhibitions rival UBM for £4bn. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/e22e79fe-fb96-11e7-a492-2c9be7f3120a . December 10, 2022 . subscription. Financial Times. 16 January 2018. 1 June 2018. Garrahan. Matthew.
  4. Web site: Independent Games Festival Mobile . 11 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110131215414/http://www.igfmobile.com/ . 31 January 2011.
  5. Web site: 2013 Independent Games Festival announces Main Competition finalists . . 2013-01-07 . 2013-01-07.
  6. Web site: IGF Competition Rules . January 3, 2018 . Independent Games Festival . 12 September 2016 .
  7. Web site: Elderkin . Beth . Venba wins Grand Prize at the 2024 Independent Games Festival Awards . . 21 March 2024 . en.
  8. Web site: Tran . Edmond . IGF Awards 2023: Full list of winners and finalists – GamesHub . www.gameshub.com . March 23, 2023. 23 July 2023 . en-AU.
  9. Web site: Inscryption wins big at GDC and IGF Awards . Marie . Dealessandri . March 24, 2022 . March 24, 2022 . .
  10. Web site: Umurangi Generation leads the way at the 23rd annual Independent Games Festival Awards . July 21, 2021 . July 21, 2021 . .
  11. Web site: A Short Hike wins Grand Prize at the 2020 Independent Games Festival! . March 18, 2020 . March 18, 2020 . .
  12. Web site: Return of the Obra Dinn takes Grand Prize at the 21st IGF Awards! . March 20, 2019 . March 20, 2019 . .
  13. Web site: Night in the Woods wins the grand prize at the Independent Games Festival . Stephanie . Chan . March 21, 2018 . March 21, 2018 . .
  14. Web site: Game Developers Conference 2020 announces virtual awards and talk schedule . March 10, 2020 . March 10, 2020 . .

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