Announced earlier this week, the Indie Game Challenge is a competition that'll award amateur and professional game developers up to $100,000 in prize money for crafting the very best independent game.
I sat down to speak with Joseph Olin, the president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, which is co-sponsoring the event with GameStop and The Guildhall at SMU. Olin is well aware that there are a few other indie games competitions and encourages them, but he believes that the Indie Game Challenge sets itself apart by bringing professional developers to the table.
There are limitations, though. The number of team members working on the submitted game can't exceed 16, and the game in question can't already have a publishing deal in place. Even with these exceptions, Olin's already had numerous responses, including one from Ted Price, the president and CEO of Insomniac games who asked, "I've got a game idea...can I enter?" So long has he sticks to the guidelines, Olin says he's free to do so.
Another interesting limitation is that the entries can't exceed 4 hours in length from start to finish. "For games that have an end," Olin specifies. He's well aware that many classic games (like his current iPhone addiction, "FlightControl,") has no end, and those are allowed, too.
Apart from encouraging professional gamers to enter, the competition has a separate category for amateur developers. There's even a popular category where players can vote on their picks, with the top selection going home with $10K. Not a bad haul!
The finalists for the competition will be chosen in the middle of January 2010, with the winners picked following the D.I.C.E. Summit in February.