The Independent Games Festival (GF) — part of the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) — has posted rules and guidelines for its 2007 competition. The deadline for the main competition is Sept. 8, 2006. For the IGF Mod competition, the deadline is Oct. 13, 2006. And the Student Showcase’s deadline is Nov. 10, 2006.
The annual festival honors innovative video and computer games created by independent game developers and students. Each year winners get thousands of dollars in prizes and major recognition for their efforts. Many of the games are developed for the Mac, as well.
Thee main IGF competition will award five prizes for Excellence in Visual Art, Excellence in Audio, Technical Excellence, Best Web Browser Game and the Innovation Award. There’s also a $20,000 Seamus McNally Grand Prize for Independent Game of the Year and the Audience Award, which is voted online.
2007 will mark the second year of the IGF Mod Competition. This year the competition has expanded to include mods for any video game past or present (as long as the mod itself was created or updated within the past 12 months). Categories include Best Singleplayer FPS Mod, Best Multiplayer FPS Mod, Best RPG Mod and Best “Other” Mod — $500 is the prize for each of the categories; $5,000 is the payout for Best Mod.
The IGF Student Showcase honors 10 winners with $500 travel stipends and the chance to show their game at GDC. What’s more, the Best Student Game Award gives the winner $2,500 cash.