Congratulations on being nominated for the 27th Annual Independent Games Festival Awards! With close to 500 entries this year, it is a major achievement to make it to the finals. The ceremony will be held on Wednesday, March 19 from 6:30pm - 8:30pm PST and held in conjunction with the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA).
This is the nominee-only page to help you get ready for the show - please bookmark this page for further reference and note the deadlines related to the ceremony below in your calendar. Should you have any questions throughout this process, please reach out to Steph Couch.
You'll find important information and deadlines listed below that will help you make the most of your nomination. Please let me know as soon as possible if you need more time to submit these materials so that we can accommodate you.
Key Dates
As soon as possible - Please confirm your game title, developer and publisher listing information
January 31 - Audience Award will close
February 7 - Submit nominee video footage for social media
February 7 - Stipend information due
February 7 - Attributions, Game and Company Logos, Music, and Game Footage due
February 14 - Attendance deadline
February 19 - Acceptance speech due (only submit this if no one from your team is attending)
March 18 - IGF Pavilion setup
March 19 - Press Hour @ IGF Pavilion
March 19-21 - IGF Pavilion open to the public
March 19 - Awards Ceremony
IGF 2025 Nomination Promo Video
Due Friday, February 7
Extended deadline to Monday, January 22!
You'll have an opportunity to showcase yourself or your team as an IGF nominee through promotional videos that will be posted on the official GDC social media channels by GDC Content Marketing Manager Beth Elderkin. If you would like to be included, please record and submit a video message (no more than 1 minute) that highlights your studio/game, award category, how you feel about being nominated, and a call-to-action to come to the awards at GDC and/or to watch them online—plus any comments you would like to add to make it feel most like you. We recommend using WeTransfer (up to 2 GB free) and emailing links to Steph Couch via email—but if that option is not available, please feel free to share via any other share file service that works for you.
You may record the video message with any recording device you have available, even your phone. Feel free to get fun and creative with your video message—but please do not add any b-roll, text-on-screen, or music. We’ll do that for you!
Your main video must be in Horizontal format (not vertical). However, you’re welcome to film an optional second video in vertical format if you’d like to participate in additional IGF promotions for TikTok and Instagram.
Note: If nominated for more than one category at the IGF Awards, we encourage separate videos for each category
Note: If nominated for awards at IGF Awards and GDCA, we encourage separate videos for each
Script Example: “Hi, we’re *name of studio* and we’re thrilled that our game *game title* has been nominated for *name of IGF award*. This project was a labor of love, and we’re so happy *detail about the game we’re really proud of* is being recognized by the game dev community. We look forward to seeing all of you in San Francisco for the IGF Awards, or you can watch it on GDC Twitch. See you soon!”
Delivery Instructions
- Please use the following format for the file name: "IGF2025_GameTitle_IGF2025Nominee"
- Document with email, full name, and job title for every person in the video—please include visual descriptions (color of their shirt, glasses/no) for reference
- Horizontal format only (not vertical)
- Video specs options: 1080p in .mp4 or .MOV format
- DO NOT add music, game footage, broll, or any text-on-screen
Past Example: IGF 2023 Seumas McNally Grand Prize Nominee Video
Audience Award
Closed Friday, January 31
Voting for the Audience Award will remain open until January 31, 2025 at 11:59pm PT. You can vote here!
This award is an opportunity for all members of the public to vote for their favorite finalist title online - the game with the most votes will win the award so be sure to share your nomination and the voting link with your players and audiences!
Finalist Stipend
Due Friday, February 7
As part of the 2025 IGF Finalist package, we will be offering a $1,000 (USD) stipend to each nominated game. To process the payment, please submit the following to Steph Couch via email by Friday, February 7:
- W-9 or W-8 form
- Individual Name/Entity that the payment should be made out to
- Address
- Contact Name
- Contact Email address
- Contact Phone Number
- Payment type: Direct Deposit or Wire Transfer
You will be contacted by our accounting department approximately 5 business days after submitting the above information and they will request banking details through a Docusign form directly from you. The Docusign email should come from the email address [email protected] with the body of the text starting “Informa Vendor Management Team” and the [email protected] email address right below that. It may go to your spam folder.
Please add the email addresses ([email protected]) to your contact list so the accounting department emails do not go to spam.
Please let me know as soon as possible if your physical address and banking address are in two different countries.
Attributions
Due Friday, February 7
When we introduce your game as an IGF nominee at the awards ceremony, we will depict the game title, developer, publisher and up to four names of individuals who worked on the game, per award category on screen using a video reel.
Attributions will be shown and announced as follows during your nominee reel: "Game Title, Developed by...., Published by..., Attributions" except for Best Debut nominees, who will be shown and announced as follows: "Developer, Nominated for Game Title, Attributions".
If you are nominated for multiple award categories, you can specify different sets of attributed names for each category. If you don't have 1-4 individual names you'd like to list, please leave this field blank. That said - we know you and your team worked really hard to make these games possible so we strongly encourage you to use this field to thank them for their work.
In addition to the written text, a voiceover will read all of this information aloud during the video. Please provide audio recordings of each of the attributed names, the game title, the developer, and the publisher even if you think those pronunciations are self-evident. You can submit this as an audio file recorded on a phone. It does not need to be high quality and can be sent over email. These pronunciation files will only be used as a reference by the voiceover artist.
Please email all audio files and written attribution information to Steph Couch. We recommend using WeTransfer (up to 2 GB free) and emailing links Steph Couch via email—but if that option is not available, please feel free to share via any other share file service that works for you.
Game and Company Logos, Music, and Game Footage
Due Friday, February 7
Game footage is required to show clips of the nomination for each category that your game is nominated in. You are welcome to send footage or game trailers or both to help us find the most appropriate clips for each category. The specifications requested for game footage is listed below. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Steph Couch. We recommend using WeTransfer (up to 2 GB free) and emailing links Steph Couch. via email—but if that option is not available, please feel free to share via any other share file service that works for you.
Footage Format:
- Approximately 2-5 minutes of varied gameplay footage in 1080p format - if you have footage of game developers working on the game that would be a great bonus! (High bit rate H.246 codec is preferred)
- If including gameplay trailers, please do not include videos that feature voiceover or narration of any kind
- Please include game and company logos as separate files (vector logo in .eps or .ai format if available or a png in 1920x1080 resolution or higher)
- Please include music from the game as separate files (.mp3 or .wav file)
- Please include your game title when labeling uploads
Attendance and GDC Pass Information
Due Friday, February 14
As part of your IGF finalist package, you will receive (2) All Access passes to GDC 2025, which can be given to any two members of your team. These will allow entry into the Independent Games Summit (Monday & Tuesday), the Expo Hall for set-up, the Main Conference (Wednesday through Friday), as well as the Awards Ceremony on Wednesday night.
In addition to the conference passes, each team will receive (5) Exhibitor Passes to GDC 2025. The Exhibitor Pass allows an individual to gain access starting Tuesday, March 18, to setup and break down the exhibit for your game at the IGF Pavilion on the Expo Floor at GDC 2025. The Exhibitor Pass also allows access to modify and setup the Exhibitor Portal. Your 2 All Access passes will also have these permissions.
Please confirm if at least one member of your team representing your game plans to attend the 2025 Game Developers Choice Awards on Wednesday, March 29, 2025 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco by the deadline of Wednesday, February 14. If no one from your team can attend, please fulfill the acceptance speech requirement below.
To RSVP, please just send a note to Steph Couch via email.
Please send Steph Couch the list of people who will receive each pass type and include full name as it should appear on their badge, as well as an email address to send their RSVP to. Everyone will be able to pick up their pass at the show with a photo ID. Should their real name and government ID not match, they will be able to list outdated information on their profile privately once registered for ease of picking up their badge. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns related to this.
More information about what benefits the GDC Passes offer can found on the Passes & Prices page. Please let me know if you would like to upgrade any of your passes for your team.
As an IGF Awards finalist, you are eligible for 7 in the VIP section of the award show, roped off and situated just in front of the stage with round tables. You do not have to use every seat and I'm happy to work with you should you want to request additional seats where possible. The VIP section will have a seating chart and seats are limited, so please do not RSVP for seats you do not need so that we can fully fill this section with finalists and their teams across GDCA and IGF. Changes can be made to your seating reservations up until 9am PT the morning of the ceremony, however, we cannot guarantee your entire team will be able to sit together for any RSVPs made after March 1.
There is no official dress code for the ceremony, but nominees are encouraged to dress up for this special occasion - call it Creative Formal. We want you and your teams to dress in a way that makes you feel celebrated and confident. Be sure to get a group photo at the awards step and repeat to show off your styles!
The VIP section will be open an hour prior to the start of the ceremony and will feature a bar with light refreshments as well as live music so do please join us, network, and kick off the celebration early with us!
GDC Registration Hours
- Sunday, March 16 | 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
- Monday, March 17 | 7:30 am – 5:00 pm
- Tuesday, March 18 | 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
- Wednesday, March 19 | 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
- Thursday, March 20 | 8:30 am – 6:00 pm
- Friday, March 21 | 8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Acceptance Speech
Due Friday, February 21
Award winners will be called to the stage to receive their trophy and are provided with a few moments to make a thank you/acceptance speech. If your team cannot attend the Awards Ceremony at the Moscone Center, you will have an opportunity to provide a pre-recorded acceptance speech. You are welcome to submit a video, slideshow, image file or text as your acceptance / thank you speech per category that you are nominated in. The deadline to submit your acceptance speech for the Awards Ceremony is Wednesday, February 19.
Video Format:
- 1920x1080p/60, ProRes, 422 .MOV File OR 1920x1080p/60, H.264, MP4 File
- Approximately 1 minute
Location & Hotels
The Awards Ceremony will take place in the GDC Ballroom on the 1st Level in the West Hall of the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California on Wednesday, March 20, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. and held in conjunction with the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA). The awards ceremony is available to to all GDC 2024 pass-holders and will be live-streamed on the official GDC Twitch channel. Additionally, GDC will be implementing these health & safety measures at the conference.
If you would like to reserve a hotel in the Downtown San Francisco area, you are welcome to use the below link. Hotel cancellations must be made by 72 hours before the start of the reservation.
IGF Pavilion
IGF Pavillion Open From March 19-21
Each IGF recipient is given their own kiosk with signage that includes the game title, developer and publisher name, and nomination category. If you will not be at the IGF Pavilion at all, please let me know as soon as possible so that we can make arrangements to setup and show your game at your kiosk in the IGF Pavilion on your behalf. In addition to your individual kiosk, there will be an accessible table for all attendees who wish to engage with IGF finalist games. Please share 2 codes with Steph Couch ahead of time for the pavilion: 1 that will be used on your kiosk laptop, and one that will be used for the accessible table.
Set up hours are: Tuesday, March 18: 8am - 6pm
IGF Pavilion and GDC Expo Hours are:
- PRESS HOUR: Wednesday, March 19: 9am-10am (you will receive a separate email with more information closer to the event)
- Wednesday, March 19: 10am-6pm
- Thursday, March 20: 10am-6pm
- Friday, March 21: 10am-3pm
The equipment provided with your kiosk at the IGF Pavilion includes:
- A kiosk
- A laptop
- Signage that lists the game, developer, publisher and nomination category
- 1 monitor
- 1 keyboard and mouse
- 1 set of headphones
- 1 chair
If you have any equipment requests, please reach out to Steph Couch with your request as soon as possible. Requests are not guaranteed and are subject to show management approval. The conference itself will have WiFi in select places, but not on the Expo Floor. You should bring extension cables (or a USB hub). This will let you place your laptop or computer inside the kiosk booth with enough length to connect above should you wish to bring your own equipment. We can't be responsible for your computer, but in the 24 years of the IGF we've never had a problem. That said, locks for all of your equipment and devices are recommended. You need to setup your kiosk by end of day on Tuesday and make sure everything is working in order to be ready for the press hour on Wednesday morning.
***TIP: It can be helpful to create a self-running demo to showcase your game so that you can communicate with attendees at the same time.***
Game Submission if You Cannot Be On Site:
- Download codes are preferred (multiple codes for multiplayer games)
- Submit codes in a text document in an email to Steph Couch
Ask us Questions!
Please don't hesitate to contact Steph Couch if you have any questions - we'll be available from now through the night of the awards!
