The fifteenth annual Front Line Awards continue Game Developer's tradition of honoring excellence and innovation in tools for game development. We recognize those companies whose state of the art tools enable faster and more efficient game creation to advance the game industry. The Front Line Awards honor the year's best tools across art, audio, middleware, game engines, and network and programming/production tools. In addition, one product is given the highest honor and inducted into the Front Line Awards Hall of Fame.

Products are nominated by the readers of Game Developer and Gamasutra. Only new products and new versions of products related to game development released between September 1, 2011 to August 31, 2012 are eligible. Beta products are not eligible. Finalists are selected by the editors of Game Developer and Gamasutra based on utility, innovation, value, and ease of use. The winners are then selected by the readers of Game Developer and Gamasutra.