Indie Prize, a scholarship program for independent game developers created by Computer Games Association (CGA), has published the full list of participants for August’s showcase at Casual Connect USA 2017. 40 finalists will showcase their games to conference guests during three days of the event on August 1-3, 2017, at Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle, Washington, USA.
Indie Prize accepted game submissions until May 31 and received applications from 41 countries around the world. After the submission form was closed, 24 judges started the selection process to see who would receive the international Indie Prize scholarship and be invited to showcase their games to game industry professionals during Casual Connect USA. Along with a showcase table and free accommodations, indie developers are provided with two free all-access passes to Casual Connect, granting access to the Indie Prize Showcase, educational sessions and networking parties. The best games from the showcase will be awarded at the 19th Indie Prize Awards ceremony in ten different categories at 3PM on August 3 in the Taper Auditorium at Benaroya Hall.
All the Indie Prize judges are veterans of the gaming industry and represent the following companies: Yodo1 Games, Rovio, Zeptolab, GameFounders, Tenjin, Amazon.com, Stugan, Exit Games, I Teut You So, Big Boat Interactive, and many more.
“We are only able to accept 12% of applications for our 40 slots,” said Yuliya Moshkaryova, Indie Prize Director. “Our community has been growing for the past two years and more and more developers from all around the globe are interested in joining the international Indie Prize scholarship!”
Desktop Windows was the dominant platform for games submitted with 36.5% of applicants running their games on the platform. iOS was second-most popular with 27.5% of submissions – followed by Android with 21.6%. Console, Desktop Mac, Web, VR desktop/console shared and VR mobile shared the remaining 14.4% of submissions.
65% of studios applied for Indie Prize for the first time and 35% have already showcased their games at the international Indie Prize Showcase before. 57% of developers stated that their games are not published yet, while 43% of submitted games have been published.
Indie Prize has international partners around the world, united under the Game Nations community banner. Those partners nominate the best games in their local contests to participate in the showcase in Seattle without going through the internal Indie Prize process.
The winners receive a guaranteed spot at the upcoming Indie Prize Showcase with two free all-access passes and free accommodations during the conference.
The list of games nominated for Indie Prize Seattle by the Game Nations community are:
- Argentina: Games Expo Argentina (EVA) winner - Impossible Dungeons by HopFrog
- Canada: IGDA Victoria winner - Cowbots and Aliens by Wizard Games
- Canada: Full Indie Demo Night winner - The Low Road by XGen Studios
- Czech Republic: Czech Game of The Year (category: Most Promising Game) - WarFriends by About Fun
- Dubai/MENA Region: Digital Games Conference DGC GAMES winner - Rangi by Funsoft
- Germany: Quo Vadis winner - Planetoid Pioneers by Data Realms
- Italy: Codemotion Amsterdam 2017 winner - Ray Bibbia by Morbidware
- Russia: DevGAMM Moscow 2017 winner - Garage by Zombie Dynamics
- Turkey: GIST (Gaming Istanbul Digital Entertainment and Gaming Expo) winner - Fabric by Torreng Labs
- Ukraine: WEGAME winner - Sayri Adventure by Vidloonnya Reborn
- USA: East Coast Game Conference winner - Doomwheel by Katsu Entertainment LLC
- USA: Sacramento Indie Arcade Gaming Expo winner - Venture Forth by Arclight Worlds
- USA: Gameacon Crystal Awards winner - Linelight by My Dog Zorro
All participants of the Indie Prize Showcase, as well as their games and trailers, are listed on the official Indie Prize website.
SCHEDULE AND DEADLINES
Casual Connect Kyiv 2017 | October 24-26, 2017 | Apply BEFORE August 30, 2017
Casual Connect USA 2018 at Disneyland® Hotel | January 16-18, 2018 | Apply BEFORE November 15th, 2017
Casual Connect London 2018 | May 29-31, 2018 | Apply BEFORE March 31st, 2018
Criteria for submissions:
- games must be in a playable form (10 minutes of gameplay at least)
- companies must be independent and a majority of the submitted game IP must be owned by the team
