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 Submissions are now officially open for the 2016 Independent Games Festival, the signature competition for indie games, to be held for its 18th year during GDC 2016 in San Francisco next March. This directly follows a record-breaking year which saw nearly 1,000 entries for the 2015 event, including top prizewinners like Outer Wilds, Metamorphabet and 80 Days.
We're announcing a change in leadership for the IGF this year, as current Chairperson Brandon Boyer says farewell to concentrate on a new venture (more from him here!) and Indie MEGABOOTH founder Kelly Wallick steps in as the new Chairperson of the IGF.
Some incremental changes are taking place for this 18th Annual IGF, including a reduction in price for Main Competition entries, the Student Competition being more fully integrated into the Main Competition, and changes to feedback. In Kelly's blog post, she introduces herself and further explains some of the changes taking place for the upcoming IGF Competition.
The deadline for all submissions to the IGF this year will be October 26th, with finalists announced in early January 2016. Finalists' games will once again be playable at the packed IGF Pavilion on the Game Developers Conference 2016 Expo Floor, and will compete for over $50,000 in prizes.
As per normal, these awards include the Excellence in Visual Art, Audio, Design and Narrative Awards, which will have six finalists each, with the winner getting $3,000 in each category. There will also be six finalists for the $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
This year also sees the return of the Best Student Game award ($3,000 prize), and the special Nuovo Award ($5,000, eight finalists) will be offered again to honor 'abstract, shortform, and unconventional' games. Finally, the IGF Audience Award ($3,000 prize) will be decided by a public vote from all of the competition finalists.
The Independent Games Festival is the longest-running and highest profile independent video game festival, summit and showcase. It has served as a springboard for several games that have gone on to become critical and cultural hits. Previous IGF prize winners from the past 17 years include Papers, Please, Spelunky, Minecraft, Limbo, World of Goo, Braid, Castle Crashers, Everyday Shooter and many more of the game industry's breakthrough independent titles.
Winners will be announced on stage at the high-profile Independent Games Festival Awards on Wednesday, March 16th, 2016, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, with the IGF Pavilion open from March 16-18th, and the sister Independent Games Summit event taking place on March 14th and 15th.
The Independent Games Festival is a part of the 2016 Game Developers Conference, which will be held from March 14th through March 18th, 2016 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. IGF continues to be the largest annual gathering of independent video game developers, showcasing top talent across the industry and keeping a pulse on the future of independent games.
Submissions to the competition are now open to all independent game developers; here are the important dates you should mark on your calendar as you prepare for IGF 2016:
- July 31, 2015 - Submissions are Open
- October 26, 2015 - Submission Deadline
- Early January, 2016 - IGF Finalists Announced
- March 14 - March 18, 2016 - Game Developers Conference 2016
- March 14 - March 15, 2016 - Independent Games Summit @ GDC 2016
- March 16 - March 18, 2016 - IGF Pavilion @ GDC 2016
- March 16, 2016 - IGF Awards Ceremony (Winners announced!)
For a complete list of information on the 2016 Independent Games Festival, including submission specifics and frequently asked questions, please visit the official Independent Games Festival website.
Hello all, and welcome back for what will be my final IGF update, as we once again open entries for the 2016 Festival. As you will have heard by now, we've just announced that I have decided to step down as Chair, with the incredibly able Kelly Wallick now taking my place to lead the IGF into the future.
It's been just over 5 years since I first accepted the Chair position, and to say that the indie game landscape has changed enormously in that time is an over-obvious understatement. Simply in terms of numbers, the IGF receives well over twice the amount of entries as it did when I took on this role, as the number of both first-time developers and long-time veterans branching off on their own -- hoping to bring something into the world that only they can create -- has risen dramatically.
From the beginning, my goal was to help foster that growth, and the diversity of voices that would come with it. I wanted the IGF to be seen not simply as an contest where games were quantitatively ranked to determine a yearly "winner".
Instead, I hoped it would become a yearly celebration where the wider community of game creators recognized the outstanding achievements of their peers. I wanted the IGF to be the best source where both developers and the game-playing public at large could discover those works that bubble up -- seemingly out of nowhere -- and surprise & delight everyone.
The task of organizing that evolution, and the swell of new entries that has come with it, has never been a particularly easy one, but it has always been enormously rewarding. With the indispensable help of everyone involved, particularly in the past few years, I believe we've taken huge strides in making the process of entering, judging and jurying the festival just as rewarding and enjoyable for those who take part.
As those first strides were falling into place, I'd begun mulling over the perfect person to eventually take up the mantle, and Kelly was always at the top of my short list. At the time, she had just begun laying the groundwork to expand her Indie MEGABOOTH, which she has since turned into the vital presence it is today, giving indies from around the world an opportunity they might not otherwise have to show their games to huge, curious audiences, standing alongside much huger developers and publishers.
She's built a fantastic reputation as an organizer and a leader dedicated to serving independent games as a whole, and I was very happy to hear that she was equally as interested in continuing to do so here at the IGF for our 2016 festival.
I'm super confident she'll do as fantastic a job in this new role, understanding as she does the importance of a festival like this to an ever-growing community of indie developers.
It has been, as they say, a privilege and an honor for me to serve you all here for the past five years, and I'm super thankful to have been given the opportunity to work with our staff, our judges & jurors who volunteer so much of their time to make the festival happen every year, and the developers who create all the amazing experiences we're here to celebrate.
In the very near future, I'll be announcing my new initiatives to continue to serve the indie games community, which I've been quietly coordinating for the past long while now. Until then, though, I hope you give Kelly the warm welcome she deserves, and I look forward to being surprised & delighted by all the games that come out of this year's festival, and many more festivals to come.
First off, I'd like to thank Brandon Boyer for his years of hard work with the Independent Games Festival and his contribution to the indie games community - here's his goodbye note to you all. The full, official announcement post for the 2016 Independent Games Festival is available here.
I'm very excited for the opportunity to continue Brandon's position as chairperson for the IGF. When I first started the Indie MEGABOOTH more than four years ago, I couldn't imagine all the incredible opportunities it would provide me. I've been able to work alongside so many wonderful companies and am continually learning and challenging not only myself, but the hundreds of developers I've had the privilege of working with over the years. At the Indie MEGABOOTH, we're constantly evolving how to help support and grow the community along with fostering an atmosphere that encourages working together to affect the industry as a whole.
Although the Indie MEGABOOTH focuses on consumer events, network creation and community building, I feel my experience in these areas can be translated into effectively managing a professional industry event. I've always seen the Independent Games Festival as an industry celebration of the games and developers who are shaping how we view the industry as a whole. With hundreds of industry professionals reviewing and discussing entries, the IGF allows the highest in peer recognition for games of all styles and genres.
I intend to continue moving the indie game community forward in a way that promotes positivity, rewards creativity and inspires future developers, while working with both the IGF and the Indie MEGABOOTH. As more and more people join the industry it is more important than ever to provide consistently high standards of work, promote positive role models, and reward innovation and forward thinking. I'm incredibly excited to share my ideas and values with my upcoming work at IGF.
And now down to business!
I've been reviewing all aspects of the entrant process, judging and awards and I'd like to take some time here to discuss new ideas and changes we plan to implement for this year. Since this will be the first year I'll be involved in the process from start to finish, we're holding off on any major changes, but there are a few items I've gotten feedback on or things that could be streamlined which are outlined below.
IGF Entry Fee and Feedback Changes
The Main Competition fee to enter the IGF is reduced from $95 to $75 starting this year. This new pricing reflects the desire to make the competition more affordable, and also a change in how we plan to handle providing developer feedback.
Developer feedback has always been an optional part of the judging process and in general, having the game played in detail by multiple judges takes precedence over providing written feedback. While the feedback is well intentioned, without having a clear structure it is often inconsistent or on par with what a normal user playtest would provide.
So we'll be removing written judge feedback - at least for this year - to concentrate on further optimizing the judging process, getting people playing as many games as possible and formalizing the feedback system.
(Please keep in mind all entry fees are directly used to fund the prize money that developers receive!)
IGF Student Entry Changes
This pricing change also leads us into a restructuring of how the Student Competition is run. In the past the fee for all student entrants was waived, and therefore they were ineligible for Main Competition prizes (unless they entered the Main Competition in addition to the Student Competition). This also meant that the student entries were judged in a separate set of submissions.
To help shine a brighter light on the high quality of student entrants, all Student Submissions are now automatically eligible for the Main Competition along with the Best Student Game prize. This means we'll be judging all the games together, with the same judges as the Main Competition. The student entry fee is now $25 to reflect these changes.
You'll find more information on deadlines and other rules in the 2016 IGF's official opening announcement, but you can go ahead and enter your game right now if you want.
I'd like to again thank Brandon, along with all the developers and teams who plan to enter their games in the future. I'm looking forward to working with you all and I'll be seeing you at GDC!
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