Judging

Judges Applications for 2026 are now closed.

How Your Game Is Judged:

At IGEA, we believe in a transparent and fair judging process for the Australian Game Developer Awards (AGDAs). We are committed to making the judging process clear to all applicants, studios, and community members.

The Judging Committee is made up of external experts from across the game development sector, selected for their knowledge and diverse experience.

• All judges are compensated for their time with a GCAP ticket which includes access to the AGDAs night.
• Judges must declare any conflicts of interest before judging begins.
• Judges cannot assess games that they or their studio have submitted.
• If a conflict arises, the game will be reassigned.

The AGDAs judging process is conducted in two rounds.

Round One – General Judging

Games will be judged by the expert committee using the publicly available Judges Rubric
Games applications must meet the Eligibility Criteria.

• Each game will be assessed by a minimum of six independent judges.
• Each judge will assess a maximum of eight games to ensure quality and depth of evaluation.
• Games are played and assessed independently, without discussion between judges.

Incomplete, broken, or early-access builds are accepted at the entrant’s risk. A working version of the game must be made digitally available by the submission deadline. No late updates or new builds will be considered.

Round Two – Specialist Review & Winner Selection

 The top five highest-scoring games in each category from Round One will be selected as finalists.

• Each finalist game will be reviewed by a minimum of two expert specialist judges in the relevant category.
• Specialist judges will participate in a structured discussion to ensure all perspectives are considered.
• Judges will then submit their individual, anonymised final scores to determine the 3 finalists and winner amongst them.
• In the event of a tie, further discussion will be used to resolve and determine the winner

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

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

Please note that The AGDAs is a competition based purely on skill, no chance plays a part in the judging process.

Minimum Entry Requirement for Award Categories

Please note:

Any award category that receives fewer than four eligible submissions will not be awarded in 2026.

All valid submissions received in such categories will be automatically carried over for consideration in the 2027 AGDAs, provided they still meet the eligibility criteria.

How The Career & Culture Awards are Judged:

IGEA and members of their Board review all Career & Culture award submissions from the community to determine the winners.

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