Organizers have officially opened submissions for the 2012 Independent Games Festival, being held at the Game Developers Conference 2012 in San Francisco next March 5-9.
The Independent Games Festival is the longest-running and highest-profile independent video game festival, summit, and showcase, and is now accepting entries to its 14th annual edition, with deadlines in the Main and Student Showcase categories by October 17 and October 31 respectively, and finalists to be announced in January 2012.
All games selected as finalists will be available in playable form at the IGF Pavilion on the GDC show floor from March 7-9, 2012, and will compete for nearly $60,000 in prizes, a significant increase from last year.
This includes the high-profile $5,000 Nuovo Award, honoring abstract, short-form, and unconventional video game development, and previously won by designers including Jason Rohrer (Between) and Messhof (Nidhogg).
In addition, awards for Excellence in Visual Art, Audio, and Design, Technical Excellence, Best Mobile Game, the Best Student Game, and the Audience Award each now receive a $3,000 prize, and the signature Seumas McNally Grand Prize for the independent game of the year (won by Mojang's Minecraft in 2011) has been increased by 50 percent to a record $30,000.
Winners will be announced on stage at the high-profile Independent Games Festival Awards on Wednesday, March 7, 2012, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The Independent Games Festival Awards are held immediately before the wider Game Developers Choice Awards.
Both multi-thousand person attendee award shows are part of the 2012 Game Developers Conference, taking place March 5th - March 9th, 2012. GDC 2012 also includes the 2012 Independent Games Summit, which is entering its sixth year and offers two days (March 5-6) of inspiration, practical lectures, and rants from the top minds in the independent games world.
The Independent Game Festival continues to sit at a place of global importance as the largest, most prestigious and all encompassing showcase of independent game talent across the wide spectrum of artistically and commercially aimed development. Notable former IGF winners include landmark indie titles such as Minecraft, Limbo, World of Goo, Braid, Castle Crashers, Everyday Shooter, Darwinia, Audiosurf and many more.
"All of us here at the IGF are excited for a new year of the innovation and artistry we consistently see from the independent games that enter the festival," said Brandon Boyer, chairman of the Independent Games Festival, who also published a separate letter discussing this year's plans.
"Our transition to a more expert-focused jury system last year was a tremendous success, and we expect it will again lead to another stellar set of finalists and winners that have made this festival the most respected in the industry. Best of luck to all the entrants!"
Submissions to the competition are now open to all independent game developers; important dates for IGF 2012 - organized by the UBM TechWeb Game Network, as is this website - are as follows:
- June 30, 2011 - Submissions are Open
- October 17, 2011 - Submission Deadline, Main Competition
- October 31, 2011 - Submission Deadline, Student Competition
- January 5, 2012 - Finalists Announced, Main Competition
- January 12, 2012 - Finalists Announced, Student Competition
- March 5 - March 9, 2012 - Game Developers Conference 2012
- March 5 - March 6, 2012 - Indie Games Summit @ GDC 2012
- March 7 - March 9, 2012 - IGF Pavilion @ GDC 2012
- March 7, 2012 - IGF Awards Ceremony (Winners Announced!)
For a complete list of information on the 2012 Independent Games Festival, including submission specifics, frequently asked questions, and more discussion on this year's contest from the IGF Chairman, please visit the official Independent Games Festival website.
