The Australian Game Developer Awards (AGDAs) are a national event celebrating outstanding games and individual achievements by Australian game developers.

The AGDAs are managed by IGEA, with the award ceremony to take place at GCAP, this year on the evening of Wednesday 7 October.  Depending on COVID-19 restrictions, we aim to deliver the ceremony virtually with physical events in each State or Territory depending on restrictions and demand.

For any questions about the awards or submission process, please contact agdas@igea.net

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be eligible:

1. Games must be in digital format
2. Games must be released between 1 October 2019 and 30 September 2020.
3. With regard to the Best Ongoing Game, this must have had a major update between 1 October 2019 – 30 September 2020
4. Applicants must make release versions of the game digitally available to the judges
5. Games that were nominated in previous years are not eligible for re-nomination with the exception of Best Ongoing Game.
6. More than 50% of the game must have been developed in Australia and playable within Australia.
7. You must provide valid contact information for each game submitted
8. The game must be in a complete and working state and be clear what software and hardware is required to use the product. Games with non-commercial bespoke equipment required to play are ineligible

ENTRY FEE

An entry fee of $30 applies to each game submitted.  There is no charge for submissions for individual awards.

AWARD CATEGORIES

We’ve expanded the award categories this year to include:

Best Art

Best Gameplay

Best Narrative

Best Sound

Best Music

Best AR/VR

Best Serious Game

Best Mobile Game

Best Ongoing Game (Game as a service)

Best Emerging Game

Studio of the Year

Game of the Year

Adam Lancman Award

Rising Star

The Game Connect Award

Please note that all game categories must receive a minimum of 3 entries in order to proceed with an award.   You can enter here

The Individual awards are:

The Adam Lancman Award

The Adam Lancman Award (excellence in the industry) honours an individual or individuals who have helped the game industry advance to a better place, either through facilitating a better game community from within, or by reaching outside the industry to advocate for video games.

Rising Star

The Rising Star Award honours those who have made significant contributions to the Australian Games Industry in the past 1 – 5 years. They have become invaluable members to the community and show great talent in their field, constantly working to facilitate a better game community.

The Game Connect Award

Each year we would like to provide an award that is closely linked to the GCAP theme.  This year’s award is for an individual or individuals within the industry who have forged a path not only for themselves, but others within the industry and provided connections to ensure success, both personally and professionally.

NOMINATIONS

Individual awards can be nominated by the community via the submissions process or by the judging committee and the winners will be selected by the IGEA Board (provided there are no obvious conflicts).

JUDGING

All winners will be selected by the Australian Game Developer Judging Committee based on submissions received during the nomination period. The Award Committee is comprised of external experts, with a strong knowledge of the game development industry and community.

Games will be judged by the expert committee using the publicly available assessment criteria.

Submissions open 20 July 2020 and close 14 August 2020.  No submissions will be received or acknowledged after this date.

The Awards Committee members are not paid for their contribution and will abstain from any votes in the event that a conflict of interest arises.

Decisions of the Awards Committee are final and no further correspondence will be entered into once judging is complete. 

AWARDS PRESENTATION

The winners of the Australian Game Developer Awards will be announced at the Australian Game Developer Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, 7th October 2020 at a venue to be determined.

Finalists will be notified via email and publicly two weeks in advance of the AGDA ceremony.

 PRIZES

All winners will receive an award, acknowledgement in all related media activity, and on the official GCAP 20 website at https://gcap.com.au.