2006 Independent Games Festival Announced

The 2006 Independent Games Festival has been announced, revealing major changes to the format of the competition, including a $20,000 Grand Prize for best game, a new modding competition, and increased prizes for smaller award categories. Submissions for the 2006 IGF competition will be accepted in August. The IGF was established in 1998 to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers, in the way that the Sundance Film Festival has benefited independent filmakers. The festival is organized by the CMP Game Group, which also runs Gamasutra.com. The IGF has given away hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes and major recognition to innovative, independently created videogames from all over the world, from early pioneering titles such as Tread Marks and Shattered Galaxy, through recent stand-outs such as Oasis, Alien Hominid, and Gish. More than $45,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to IGF competition winners this year. The main IGF competition will give out five major awards for Visual Arts, Audio, Game Design, Technical Excellence, and Best Web Browser Game, chosen from a pool of finalists. Additional honors from amongst the finalists will be presented for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize for Independent Game of the Year and the Audience Award. The IGF’s new mod competition will award the most outstanding, independently developed total conversion modifications for four major games. IGF supporters are invited to help choose the titles to be included in the competition by voting at IGF.com. In addition, the IGF's Student Showcase will highlight a total of ten games this year, including a new category for games created using middleware. The Independent Games Festival takes place annually during the Game Developers Conference (GDC), scheduled for March 20-24, 2006 in San Jose, California. The GDC is the largest gathering of videogame creators worldwide. Developers interested in submitting a game can visit the official IGF website for more information and guidelines. [UPDATE: 06/27/05 9.21am PST - the IGF modding competition poll is now open for voting.]