A conglomerate of the industry’s leading companies and influencers have teamed up for the inaugural GAM3 Awards, which aim to become the Grammys for web3 gaming. The event, hosted by Polkastarter Gaming on December 15, will recognize this year’s best web3 games as voted by expert judges and community sentiment.
Over 200 web3 games and content creators are in the running 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 at 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 such as Sonic: Unleashed and Final Fantasy XIV Online (Yoshihisa Hashimoto) and former Senior Director of Partnerships at Electronic Arts (Edward Chang). The jury also boasts previous senior leaders 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 at Avocado DAO
- Jesper Lindquist, Senior Manager Web3 Gaming at Animoca Brands
- Marco van den Heuvel, Co-Founder & CEO at Merit Circle
- David Hanson, Founder & CEO at Ultra
- John Izaguirre, BD Director at BNB Chain
- Abhimanyu Kumar, Co-Founder at Naavik
- Nathan N., Co-Founder at Ancient8
Set to be simultaneously broadcast across Polkastarter Gaming’s Twitch, YouTube, and Twitter channels, the GAM3 Awards were conceived to highlight best-in-class web3 games and showcase blockchain as a net plus to the gaming industry. The event will feature a jury of over 30 gaming and web3 thought leaders, ecosystem partners, and media outlets to ensure a thorough and fair voting process.
In addition to prestige & recognition, winners of the first GAM3 Awards will enjoy a share of $300,000 worth of prizes from sponsors such as Immutable X, Blockchain Game Alliance, Machinations, Naavik, and Ultra. The event will showcase the best games within the web3 space and recognize the developers striving to create the highest quality gaming experiences.
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Awards will be issued 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 set to include even more categories.
The jury’s vote will carry 90% weight, with the remaining 10% decided by the 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, in addition to People’s Choice and Best Content Creator, which will both be 100% community determined. Once the jury’s nominee shortlist has been published by listing its top five choices in each category, community voting will open mid-November on Polkastarter Gaming’s website ahead of the final results in December.
Games will be judged based on multiple criteria, including core loop, graphics, accessibility, replayability factor, fun elements, and overall playing experience. To be eligible for the awards, games must integrate and utilize blockchain tech without losing sight of the importance of the overall gameplay and playability.
“We are excited 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,” stated Justin Kan, Founder of Fractal, the awards’ content partner.
Furthermore, the event looks to celebrate the future generation of builders in web3 gaming by inviting game studios to nominate & recognize their own employees, developers, and professionals across specializations who represent the future class of web3 gaming by being inducted in the first ‘GAM3 Changers’ list.
The GAM3 Awards is set to highlight the high quality of web3 games in the space and showcase the true potential of blockchain technology integration without jeopardizing the quality of the games themselves. “We called it the “GAME” awards, with a 3, to keep the focus on the actual games themselves, get rid of the web3 jargon and negative connotation, while still paying tribute to the underlying web3 tech that we believe will help shape the future of gaming,” stated Omar Ghanem, Head of Gaming at Polkastarter.
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Given the magnitude of the event and overall initiative, which is evident in the diverse renowned jury and partners, these awards could very well become the industry standard annual celebrations as the industry continues to evolve.
About GAM3 Awards
GAM3 Awards 2022 is the inaugural edition of the annual web3 gaming awards. Hosted by Polkastarter Gaming, Polkastarter’s first step at reimagining the future of blockchain gaming, which has grown to a community of over 70,000 gamers across the globe. The awards celebrate the highest quality web3 games, with the event boasting industry leaders, ecosystems, and media outlets, and rewards the top games developers and content creators with monetary prizes and services valued at over $300,000.
