Voting is now underway for the second annual Indie Game Challenge. Sponsored by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, GameStop Corp. and The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, the Gamer’s Choice Award is one of more than $350,000 in prizes available to the 12 finalist teams in the Indie Game Challenge.
The competition has a truly global perspective this year. This is due to the fact that IGC expanded this year’s submissions to include international developers. Half of the finalist teams reside outside the US:
Limbo’s nine-member professional team, Playdead: Denmark
Spaces of Play, Spirit’s four professional developers: Germany
Five-member professional team, Nemesys games, creators of Fortix 2: Hungary
Professional two-member team responsible for Confetti Carnival, SpikySnails: Israel
Hazard: The Journey of Life professional designer Alexander Bruce: Australia
Non-professional five-member team behind Q.U.B.E., Toxic Games: England
ZZZ Games, non-professional 10-member team and creators of Symon: Singapore
Also of interest is the breadth of academic influence presented among the non-professional category finalists:
DigiPen Institute of Technology: Solace and Subsonic
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Symon
Southern Methodist University: Inertia
Voters for the Gamer’s Choice Award will be entered into the Gamer’s Choice Sweepstakes, which offers a grand prize trip for two to Los Angeles to tour G4 studios, passes to attend a taping of the popular “X-Play” program, and a meet-and-greet with “X-Play” host Adam Sessler. The sweepstakes winner will be selected in March.
The winning Gamer’s Choice Award team will be presented $10,000 on Feb. 11, at the D.I.C.E. ™ (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit being hosted at Red Rock Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. D.I.C.E. is an annual conference hosted by the AIAS dedicated to exploring approaches to the creative process and artistic expression as they uniquely apply to the development of interactive entertainment.
In addition to the Gamer’s Choice Award, the grand prizes and category winners of the Indie Game Challenge will also be unveiled at D.I.C.E. in an awards ceremony hosted by Adam Sessler. The six non-professional and six professional finalists are eligible for more than $350,000 in prizes, including separate $100,000 pro and non-pro team awards, an SMU scholarship and more.
Complete details about the Indie Game Challenge, the Gamer’s Choice Award and the Gamer’s Choice Sweepstakes and the official rules can be found at www.indiegamechallenge.com.
