Independent Games Festival

15th Annual Independent Games Festival
March 27, 2013
GDC 2013
Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco, CA

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About IGF | Contest Overview | Important Dates | Sponsors

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IGF Awards:
March 27, 2013

IGF Pavilion:
March 27-29, 2013

About the IGF

IGF WinnerThe UBM Tech Game Network (producers of Game Developer magazine, Gamasutra.com, and the Game Developers Conference®) established the Independent Games Festival in 1998 to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers. Just as the Sundance Film Festival benefits the independent film community, the IGF creates a similar event for independent game developers in addition to the student population of game developers.

Located at the Moscone Center at the Game Developers Conference, and open to any members of the public or game professionals who have passes with access to the Expo Floor, the IGF Pavilion showcases every single finalist for this year's Festival in playable form. Game submissions are also browsable on the official IGF site before and during GDC. Members of the development team for each IGF finalist are on hand to discuss and demonstrate the title and talk to top game publishers and distributors attending the show.

The IGF Awards will take place on Wednesday, March 27, at the Game Developers Conference, with thousands watching the awards presentation before the Game Developer's Choice Awards are presented. In its 15th year, the IGF has given away hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes and major recognition to innovative and independently created video games from all over the world.


IGF Awards Ceremony

March 27, 2013

IGF Pavilion

March 27-29, 2013

Independent Games Summit

March 25-26, 2013

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IGF Contest Overview

The Independent Games Festival event features the main IGF Competition itself and the IGF Student Showcase.

Independent Games Festival Prizes

The main Independent Games Festival, to be held in March 2013 at San Francisco's GDC 2013, will be distributing eight major awards at its ceremony, as follows:

  • Seumas McNally Grand Prize ($30,000)
  • Excellence In Visual Art ($3,000)
  • Excellence In Audio ($3,000)
  • Excellence In Design ($3,000)
  • Excellence In Narrative ($3,000)
  • Technical Excellence ($3,000)
  • Nuovo Award ($5,000)
  • Audience Award ($3,000)

There are six specifically named finalists for each award, with the exception of the Nuovo Award, which has eight finalists. All finalists will be invited to the IGF award ceremony at GDC 2013, and will have their games showcased at the IGF Pavilion. The IGF Audience Award will be voted from the finalists in all other categories.

IGF Student Showcase

In addition, the IGF's Student Showcase competition, which is the premiere competition highlighting the top student-created indie games, also gives out the following awards each year:

  • IGF Student Showcase Winner ($1,000)
    • The IGF's Student Showcase will highlight a total of eight games this year
  • IGF Best Student Game ($3,000)

In addition there will be a prize for best overall IGF Student Game awarded as part of the IGF Awards, with the finalists comprising all of the Student Showcase winners:

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Key IGF Dates & Deadlines

August 9, 2012 Submissions are Open
October 17, 2012 Submission Deadline, Main Competition
October 31, 2012 Submission Deadline, Student Competition
January 14, 2013 Finalists Announced, Main Competition
January 18, 2013 Finalists Announced, Student Competition
March 25 - March 29, 2013 Game Developers Conference 2013
March 25 - March 26, 2013 Independent Games Summit @ GDC
March 27 - March 29, 2013 IGF Pavilion @ GDC
March 27, 2013 IGF Awards Ceremony (Winners Announced!)

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Sponsors

IGF Student Competition Platinum Sponsor
Microsoft Studios is Microsoft's entertainment publishing arm, and Microsoft Studios XBLA has published some of the best games for Xbox LIVE Arcade. We're eager to continue to support and empower independent developers to deliver fantastic, innovative and ground-breaking entertainment experiences on Microsoft platforms.
 MicrosoftStudios logo
   
IGF Platinum Student Showcase Sponsor
DigiPen Institute of Technology, located in Redmond, Washington, has been providing highly capable programmers and production artists to the electronic games industry for over 15 years. With a rigorous curriculum endorsed by industry leading companies and taught by world-renowned faculty, DigiPen graduates represent some of the industry's most sought after employees and respected game development leaders.		 Digipen logo
   

For more information on sponsorship opportunities, click here.

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