Swedish Game Awards

Swedish Game Awards is Sweden's largest video game development competition. It has been held annually since 2002 and is organized by the student-driven, non-profit entrepreneurship association at the Royal Institute of Technology, Excitera. The competition's audience is students at Swedish universities, especially people studying game development and software engineering. Funding is handled through partnerships with various software and game development companies, e.g. Digital Illusions CE and Sun Microsystems.

History

Swedish Game Awards started in 2003 as a PC-only game competition under the name KTH Game Awards, and was targeted mainly at students in the Stockholm area. In 2004, KTH Game Awards was merged with another competition organized by Excitera, Excitera Mobile Award. This led to the creation of special class for mobile phone games, which has remained during subsequent runs. At the same time, the name was changed to Swedish Game Awards to reflect the increase in scope from local to national, and the fact that the competition had grown to be the largest of its kind in Sweden.

The competition has gradually gained recognition from Swedish game development companies and universities as a way for students to show their game development capabilities and thus increase their chances of getting employment within the game industry. Traditionally, the winners of Swedish Game Awards have went on to compete in the Independent Games Festival.

Competition details

Since 2005, there are two classes in which to compete: the PC games class and the mobile games class. According to the current rules, a PC game must run on Windows XP, and a mobile game must run on a phone currently on the market. Prizes are awarded to winners and runners-up in both classes, as well as to the best game idea. Submissions are judged on gameplay and technical merit as well as on market potential.

A competition run usually follows the Swedish academic year. In the fall, the competition and its rules and timetable are announced. The first deliverable, a game concept or game design document, is typically due in February. The second deliverable, a fully playable game demo, has historically been due in the last weeks of April. The competition finishes off with an awards ceremony in May, where winners are selected among jury nominees.

Competition award history

Best PC Game

:2007 : Puzzlegeddon:2006 : Dawnspire: Prelude:2005 : CrazyBall:2004 : Saga of Ina:2003 : Xazzon

Best Game Concept

:2007 : Fret Nice:2006 : Sumo:2005 : Promqueen:2004 : War, Siege & Conquest

Best Mobile Game

:2007 : Magnotix:2006 : Quantum:2005 : Ice Cakes

Miscellaneous Awards

:2007 : Best XNA game: Gravitron Ultra:2007 : Jury honour nomination: Streambolt Desero, Boiler, Raven Tale:2007 : Best PC game runner up: Harvest:2007 : Best mobile game runner up: Heximon:2006 : Jury honour nomination: Deadbolt:2005 : Sony Ericsson Mobile Java 3D Award: 3D Cube2005 the game of the year

External links

* [http://www.gameawards.se Swedish Game Awards] - official site
* [http://www.sga.to/node/53 Swedish Game Awards' complete list of the entrants and finalists]