Blockchain gaming elite join forces for first GAM3 Awards
A conglomerate of the industry’s leading companies and influencers have joined forces for the first GAM3 Awards, which aim to become the Grammys for web3 games. The event, hosted by Polkastarter Gaming on December 15, will recognize the year’s best web3 games as voted by expert judges and community sentiment.
Over 200 web3 games and content creators are competing for 16 awards, including “Game of the Year”. Judges whose votes will determine which studios walk away with a prize include Justin Kan, founder of Fractal; Urvit Goel, Head of Global Games at Polygon Studios; Itai Elizur, managing partner of Market Across; Rachel Levin, Director of Venture & Strategy at ImmutableX and Matt Sorg, Head of Technology at Solana Foundation.
An all-star jury with decades of gaming experience includes former Square Enix CTO who directed games like Sonic: Unleashed and Final Fantasy XIV Online (Yoshihisa Hashimoto) and former Senior Director of Partnerships at Electronic Arts (Edward Chang). The jury also boasts former senior executives at Electronic Arts, Riot Games, Zynga, Xbox Game Studios, Amazon Gaming and Unity Technologies, including:
- Sarutobi Sasuke, Head of Partnerships at YGG
- Dan Patterson, General Partner at Sfermion
- Brendan Wong, CEO of Avocado DAO
- Jesper Lindquist, Senior Manager Web3 Gaming at Animoca Brands
- Marco van den Heuvel, co-founder and CEO of Merit Circle
- David Hanson, founder and CEO of Ultra
- John Izaguirre, BD Director of BNB Chain
- Abhimanyu Kumar, co-founder of Naavik
- Nathan N., co-founder at Ancient8
Broadcast simultaneously across Polkastarter Gaming’s Twitch, YouTube and Twitter channels, the GAM3 Awards were developed to highlight best-in-class web3 games and showcase blockchain as a net plus for the gaming industry. The event will feature a jury of over 30 game and web3 thought leaders, ecosystem partners and media to ensure a thorough and fair voting process.
In addition to prestige and recognition, winners of the inaugural GAM3 Awards will enjoy a share of $300,000 in prizes from sponsors such as Immutable X, Blockchain Game Alliance, Machinations, Naavik and Ultra. The event will showcase the best games in the web3 space and recognize the developers who strive to create the highest quality gaming experiences.
Prizes will be awarded for “Best” in the following categories: Action Game, Mobile Game, Adventure Game, Casual Game, RPG, Shooter Game, Graphics, Strategy Game, Card Game, Multiplayer Game, Esports Game, Graphics and Content Creator. In addition, there will also be awards for the most anticipated game, Games’ Choice and People’s Choice, with future editions to include even more categories.
The jury’s vote will have 90% weight, while the remaining 10% will be decided by community voting. The only exceptions to this are Games’ Choice which will be decided by industry game studios voting for their own version of Game of the Year, as well as People’s Choice and Best Content Creator, both of which will be 100% community determined. Once the jury’s shortlist has been published by listing the top five picks in each category, community voting will open in mid-November on Polkastarter Gaming’s website before the final results in December.
Games will be judged based on several criteria, including core loop, graphics, accessibility, replayability factor, fun elements and overall gaming experience. To be eligible for the awards, games must integrate and use blockchain technology without losing sight of the importance of overall playability and playability.
“We are delighted to partner with Polkastarter Gaming on this event, it is truly a step in the right direction for the industry and the first of its kind in web3 gaming,” said Justin Kan, founder of Fractal, the award’s content partner.
Furthermore, the event looks to celebrate the future generation of developers in web3 games by inviting game studios to nominate and recognize their own employees, developers and professionals across specializations who represent the future class of web3 games by being introduced in the first ‘GAM3 Changers’ list.
The GAM3 Awards will highlight the high quality of web3 games in the space and showcase the true potential of blockchain technology integration without compromising the quality of the games themselves. “We called it the ‘GAME’ awards, with a 3, to keep the focus on the games themselves, get rid of the web3 jargon and negative connotations, while paying tribute to the underlying web3 technology that we believe will contribute to to shape the future of gaming,” said Omar Ghanem, head of gaming at Polkastarter.
Given the scale of the event and the overall initiative, evident in the diverse esteemed jury and partners, these awards may well become the industry standard annual celebrations as the industry continues to evolve.
About the GAM3 Awards
The GAM3 Awards 2022 is the first edition of the annual web3 game awards. Hosted by Polkastarter Gaming, Polkastarter’s first step in reimagining the future of blockchain gaming, which has grown into a community of over 70,000 players worldwide. The awards celebrate the highest quality web3 games, with the event boasting industry leaders, ecosystems and media, rewarding the best game developers and content creators with cash prizes and services worth over $300,000.
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