The organizers of the
2010 Independent Games Festival are reminding entrants that there's one week left before the Nov. 1st main deadline, revealing over 100 entries and new specifics on the Nuovo prize.
Entries to the 12th Annual IGF's Main Competition are due by 11.59pm PST on November 1st, with
submissions accepted for easy digital submission from game creators worldwide, in multiple PC, computer and console formats.
Games selected as finalists for the world's leading independent games competition will be available in playable form on the
GDC 2010 show floor and will compete for nearly $50,000 in prizes, including awards for Excellence in Design, Art, the Audience Award and the coveted $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Winners will be announced on stage at the prestigious Independent Games Festival Awards on Thursday, March 11, 2010.
As well as the Main Competition entry deadline on the 1st, organizers are reminding that games are
due for submission in the free to enter Student Showcase category by November 15th, 2009, and
entries to the IGF Mobile competition -- encompassing iPhone, mobile phone, PSP, DS, Android and other handheld games -- are due by December 1st, 2009.
Over 100 games have already been submitted across all IGF 2010 competitions, and since the vast majority of Independent Games Festival submissions tend to occur at the last minute, organizers are expecting a record amount of entries this year.
To ensure the highest-quality judging, over 140 leading game industry figures -- from 2D Boy's Ron Carmel through
Crayon Physics' Petri Purho and beyond -- have been recruited. In addition, IGF 2010 Main Competition entrants are guaranteed written, anonymized judge feedback -- an important part of deriving value and takeaway from entering the Festival.
Organizers are also revealing new details on the $2,500 Nuovo Award, which is intended to honor abstract, shortform, and unconventional game development which "advances the medium and the way we think about games." The Nuovo Award, which was won by Jason Rohrer's acclaimed abstract multiplayer title
Between in 2009, allows more esoteric 'art games' to compete on their own terms alongside longer-form indie titles.
For IGF 2010, the Main Competition judges will recommend games to be considered in a shortlist for this award. But a separate panel of notable game and art world figures -- to be announced in the near future -- will decide the finalists and winner for the Nuovo Award in juried form, mirroring similar, artistically important awards in other industries.
The Independent Games Festival Awards are held alongside the Game Developers Choice Awards and both award shows are part of the 2010 Game Developers Conference.
GDC 2010 also includes the
2010 Independent Games Summit, which is entering its fourth year, and offers two days of inspiration and practical lectures and rants from the top minds in the independent games world.
Sponsors so far confirmed for the 2010 Independent Games Festival include Official Download Partner Direct2Drive, Gold Sponsor Unity, and Platinum Student Showcase sponsor DigiPen Institute Of Technology. For a complete list of Independent Games Festival 2010 event information, please visit the
official IGF website.
