IGN will host the live stream of the 3rd Annual DevGAMM Awards, an event dedicated to honoring outstanding indie games and their creators. The ceremony is scheduled to take place on November 18 from Lisbon, Portugal, and will be available to watch on IGN.com and the IGN YouTube channel.
This year's awards will feature 13 distinct categories, including four new additions: Best Small Team Game, Best Game in Early Development, Meaningful Game, and DevGAMM Choice. These expand upon established accolades such as Grand Prize, Excellence in Game Design, Visual Art, Narrative, and Audio, as well as Best Mobile Game and Most Anticipated Game.
The newly introduced Best Small Team Game award specifically recognizes titles developed by independent teams of up to 10 individuals without publisher or investor backing. The Best Game in Early Development category will honor promising demos or vertical slices that showcase creativity and strong potential. Meaningful Game aims to highlight titles that address significant social, cultural, or environmental issues through their gameplay and storytelling.
DevGAMM has historically received over 1,000 game submissions in its previous two years, recognizing nearly 30 winners. Past recipients include games like Manor Lords, Cairn, and Keep Driving.
In addition to the main awards, the ceremony will also present four partner-sponsored prizes from industry giants such as Epic, Unreal Engine, tinyBuild, and Unity. This collaboration underscores the event's role in supporting and elevating independent developers.
Submissions for the DevGAMM Awards are open to indie developers and small studios globally, with no entry fees. The deadline for applications is September 7, 2026. Developers can find more information and submit their games via devgamm.com/awards2026/.
The judging process involves over 150 game industry professionals from prominent companies including PUBG Studios, Riot Games, Unity, Epic Games, Meta, and Larian Studios. These judges evaluate submissions on DevGAMM’s online platform, and participating teams will receive feedback throughout the evaluation period. Lerika Mallayeva, Founder of DevGAMM, emphasized the importance of awards like these for fostering visibility and support for games that tackle meaningful themes, stating, "We hope this award gives greater visibility to developers creating games that help players see, feel, or understand something differently."