The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999. Since then, the ceremony for the Independent Games Festival is held just prior to the Choice Awards ceremony.
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutorials, lectures, and roundtables by industry professionals on game-related topics covering programming, design, audio, production, business and management, and visual arts.
The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is a nonprofit professional association whose stated mission is to "support and empower game developers around the world in achieving fulfilling and sustainable careers."
The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a global nonprofit research and education organization with regional offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London. ULI aims to help its members and their partners build more equitable, sustainable, healthy and resilient communities.
Michael V. Capps or Mike Capps is an American video game designer who was the president of Epic Games, based in Cary, North Carolina from 2002 to 2012. In 2018, he co-founded a new artificial intelligence company called Howso. He has been described as "a legendary figure in the video game industry."
Samir Yacoub Brikho FREng is a Lebanese-Swedish Chairman of the Board of Directors at global fertilizer producer EuroChem Group AG. Brikho has previously held senior positions in many leading companies such as Asea, ABB Group, Alstom and Amec Foster Wheeler.
Jennifer MacLean is known for being the chief executive officer at 38 Studios, an independent game developer, from 2009 to 2012 and the executive director of the IGDA from September 2017 to April 2019.
An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. Because of their independence and freedom to develop, indie games often focus on innovation, experimental gameplay, and taking risks not usually afforded in AAA games. Indie games tend to be sold through digital distribution channels rather than at retail due to a lack of publisher support. The term is synonymous with that of independent music or independent film in those respective mediums.
The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is a trade association that represents independent record labels in the United States, founded in 2005. A2IM is headquartered in New York City, with chapters located in Nashville, Chicago, Northern California, Southern California, and the Pacific Northwest. Among other events, they organize the annual Libera Awards.
Within the video game industry there are several awards that are given to individual video games, development studios, and other individuals to recognize their merit. Most video game awards are given out on an annual basis, celebrating the best games of the previous year. Most of these awards come from organizations directly within the industry, but there also exist several that come from broader media groups. In addition, many video game publications supply their own end of the year awards.
John Francis Hillen III is an American business executive and diplomat who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs from 2005 to 2007. He served as President and CEO of Sotera Defense Solutions from 2008 to 2013. While at Sotera, he took the company public in November 2009. Hillen served as the CEO and a Member of the Board of EverWatch Corporation, which was acquired by Booz Allen Hamilton in October 2022. He currently serves as a college professor and Board Chairman and Director of several companies.
Kate Edwards is a geographer, writer, and content culturalization strategist, most active in information-based cartography and video game content. She was the executive director of the International Game Developers Association from December 2012 to June 2017. Edwards spent over a decade working in various roles at Microsoft, creating the Geopolitical Strategy team and working to evaluate and manage geopolitical and cultural content in software products. After leaving Microsoft she founded Englobe as a consulting firm engaged in content culturalization and strategy, primarily for the video game industry.
nDreams is a company that develops and publishes video games. Based in Farnborough, Hampshire, UK, it was formed in August 2006 by former SCi and Eidos creative director, Patrick O'Luanaigh.
Active Gaming Media Inc. (AGM) is a localization company based in Osaka, Japan. Founded in 2008 by CEO Ibai Ameztoy, the company's main focus lies in providing localization services for video games. AGM has since branched out to provide services such as game debugging, marketing, promotion, voice acting, and publishing for games and anime.
Tag Games is a video game developer and publisher based in Dundee, Scotland. Established in 2006, it is focused on creating games for mobile, tablet and wearable platforms and was one of the first European studios to develop titles for both the iPhone and iPad.
Kwalee Ltd. is a British video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in May 2011 by David Darling, co-founder and former CEO of Codemasters who is hailed as one of the 'founding fathers' of the UK games industry. The company publishes games on mobile, PC and console platforms. It is known for its hypercasual games for iOS and Android devices, with a large internal development studio helping the company to more than 700 million game downloads in total. Based in Leamington Spa in the county of Warwickshire, Kwalee is one of the several companies that make up the Leamington Spa video gaming cluster.
Assaad Wajdi Razzouk is a Lebanese-British clean-energy entrepreneur, author, podcaster and commentator.
The Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) is the industry association for computer and video games in Australia and New Zealand.
Richard Christopher Wilson is the Chief Executive Officer of UK development trade body TIGA.
The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie) is a non-profit trade association for the video game industry in the United Kingdom (UK). Ukie was founded in 1989 as the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), then changed to Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) in 2002, and to its current name in 2010.
