The 14th Annual Indie of the Year Awards from IndieDB has officially begun. Voting booths have been added to all active game profiles on IndieDB.com, one of the largest independent game databases and communities online. For three weeks, players will vote on 2023’s best indie games in phases. The winner will be announced by IndieDB before the year’s end. Along with the honorable mentions, “Editors Choice” and “Best Up-and-Coming” will also be recognized before the winner is revealed.
The first phase of voting is open now until December 10th.
Traditionally, the awards process is conducted in two consecutive phases. The first phase, as mentioned earlier, players vote on their favorite indie games. All active projects registered on IndieDB over the course of the year are candidates. Voting is from the start of December over the next 10 days. The winners are listed on the official awards website on December 11th which upon announcement Phase 2 will commence.
For the second phase, the top 100 games are listed on a ballot. Players cast their vote until close on December 20th. Thereafter, votes are tallied electronically and IndieDB staff will use that information to honor the top Indies and their video games.
“Indie game” compared to other video games
Typically, the criteria for what defines an independent game fall under the same terms of what makes a film or a musical artist independent. There is no exact or official definition of independence in production. Conceptually, what is widely-accepted is related to self-publishing, sole distribution, and freedom from any large backers or corporate decision-makers. Developers either cover the cost of a game’s develop-to-publish pipeline themselves or raise the money through crowd-funding sources completely free of any attachments to a large publisher. Unlike mainstream developers with very large budgets credited by their backers who also provide marketing and distribution. Typically, these are major publishers who impart oversight and require approval. These publishers tend to be risk-averse, creatively limited, and are possessed by controlled interests while making decisions on the backend.
Under IndieDB’s scope, an indie game is created by a team of 2 to 10 people with very little outside funding, if any. Development teams larger than that or with substantial funding or publishing assistance are eligible for an IndieDB award if an exception is granted by IndieDB staff upon request.
To aid voters IndieDB.com showcases a year in review for the community by highlighting the top features of every quarter. Quarter 1 will go live Saturday, December 2nd, 2023 PT.
source: www.indiedb.com
