Swedish Game Awards

History

Swedish Game Awards started in 2002 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, called the Excitera Mobile Award. This led to the creation of special class for mobile phone games. After its first iteration, the name was changed to Swedish Game Awards to reflect the increase in scope from local to national competition, as well as the fact that the competition had grown to be the largest of its kind in Sweden.

In 2014 the competitions hosts changed from students of Royal Institute of Technology to students of Södertörn University (while still maintaining its cooperation with Excitera).

In 2015 the competition added the category Best Diversity Effort as a result of their cooperataion with Diversi to reflect the games industry's increasing interest in variation of its developers and consumers. The final day of the competition also had its first livestream on YouTube by cooperating with students of Medieinstitutet to make the announcement of the winners available directly to the public. It also broke the previous record of submitted games in 2014 (which was 98) with 104 games.

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 video game industry.

Game of the Year

2016: Notes of Obsession2015: Adventure on Clover island2014: Defunct2013: Epigenesis2012: Secrets of Grindea2011: Dead Meets Lead2010: Dwarfs!?2009: Bloodline Champions2008: Magicka2007: Puzzlegeddon2006: Dawnspire: Prelude2005: CrazyBall2004: Saga of Ina2003: Xazzon

Best Execution in Art

2016: Super Neon Drifter2015: Adventure on Clover island2014: Piggy

Best Execution in Audio

2016: Notes of Obsession2015: Sons of Eye Championship2014: Beat It

Best Diversity Effort

2016: Sam and Nicole2015: Iris & Earl

Best Execution in Design

2016: Cryptogram2015: Frog Climbers2014: Cubetrip

Best Execution in Narrative

2016: Cryptogram2015: Adal's Vikings2014: Siege of Stockholm

Best Technical Execution

2016: Cryptogram2015: Rymdstenar2014: Magnetic [1]

Gamers' Choice

2016: Lance A Lot2015: Frog Climbers2014: Gamer's Choice: Flash and crash2013: Gamer's Choice: Fly or Die2012: Gamer's Choice: Build 'n' Break2010: Gamer's Choice: Eggnappers2009: Gamer's Choice: Conquer the Hood2008: Gamer's Choice: Boingo

Best Execution

2013: Little Warlock2012: ---2011: ---2010: Br00t4l Qwest2009: Imperii2008: Boingo

Best Mobile Game

2013: Dungeon Heroes2012: Forlorn2011: Block Breaker2010: Phoenix Spirit2008: Swarm2007: Magnotix2006: Quantum2005: Ice Cakes

Best Innovation

2013: King of the Thrill2012: Blobbz Online2011: Zap the Bugs2010: Block Tower Wars2009: Carpet Wrestling2008: Blueberry Garden2007: Fret Nice2006: Sumo2005: Promqueen2004: War, Siege & Conquest

Miscellaneous Awards

2015: Game of the Year Nominees: The Hungry Maw From Outer Space, Frog Climbers, Rymdresa2013: Best Scenario: Grief2011: Jury honour nomination: Unmechanical2010: Best Web Game: Continuity2009: Best XNA game: Bloodline Champions2009: Best Java FX: Imperii2007: Best XNA game: Gravitron Ultra2007: Jury honour nomination: Streambolt Desero, Boiler, Raven Tale2007: Best PC game runner up: Harvest: Massive Encounter2007: Best mobile game runner up: Heximon2006: Jury honour nomination: Deadbolt2005: Sony Ericsson Mobile Java 3D Award: 3D Cube2004: Jury honour nomination: Hockey

Current Competition

The 2014-2015 competition is organized by a team of Stockholm-based university students in various fields related to game design.
In its 13th year, the Swedish Game Awards continues annually to draw greater numbers of entries from student-development teams across Sweden.

Rules

The parameters to the competition have remained relatively stable over the years, aimed toward providing a launching pad for talented, independent, student game developers to develop new and marketable games.
The official rules are available at http://gameawards.se/competition/rules.

Event Timeline

The process of the Swedish Game Awards spans the majority of each academic year. Beginning in October with the SGA Kickoff, previous winners, current jury members, and corporate sponsors are invited to present their perspectives of the game industry and the Swedish Game Awards in particular to the upcoming year's participants. Also at this time, the various award categories are announced. The competition submissions are developed by independent teams during the year, culminating in a Jury Weekend and Grand Finale party in late May.

In the early months of the competition, the SGA Tour also occurs. During the tour, representatives from the Swedish Game Awards visit universities and technical schools across the country to engage with competition participants.

Main Partners

King (company), DICE, Arrowhead Game Studios, Sweden Game Arena Autodesk

Gold Partners

MAG Interactive

Silver Partners

Paradox Interactive, Epic Games

Bronze Partners

Rovio Entertainment, Avalanche Studios

Current Categories

Game of the YearGamers' ChoiceBest Diversity EffortBest Execution in ArtBest Execution in AudioBest Execution in DesignBest Execution in NarrativeBest Technical Execution

Previous Partners

Here is a list of previous partners that have sponsored the Swedish Game Awards in some way in the past.

Previous Main Partners

HP, Intel, ARM, Epic Games, King (company)

Previous Gold Partners

DICE, Arrowhead Game Studios, Rovio Entertainment, Mali DEVELOPER CENTER

Previous Silver Partners

Paradox Interactive, DICE, Wooga, Stardoll, Fondia, Grand Cru Games

Previous Bronze Partners

Autodesk, Easy Studios, Junebud, Gamers Gate, Swedish National Defence College, Avalanche Studios, Bitsquid, Hansoft

Previous Event Partners

EasyTryck.se

Previous Media Partners

The Square (publication)

Previous Awards

Best ExecutionBest InnovationBest Mobile GameBest ScenarioBest Serious Game