One of the great things about platforms such as Steam, Google Play, and even iTunes is the relatively low barrier for entry. A small team, or even a single developer, can create an app or game that is used and loved by millions of people. Google recognizes the indie spirit and wants to help promote indie games on its Google Play store. They’ve recently started promoting indie titles more prominently on Google Play, and they’re looking to take things even a few steps further. Indie devs can currently apply for a spot at the Google Play Indie Games Festival, set to take place on September 24th in San Francisco.
Only 30 developers will be chosen for the event, and there are a few stipulations for developers to proceed with their submission:
- The game is either launched on or after January 1, 2016 or will be published by December 31, 2016.
- A playable demo APK is available for Play at the event.
- The owner of the game is based in United States or Canada.
- The owner of the game is not a public company.
- The owner of the game publishes the game directly on Google Play Store, without using the account of another publishing entity, unless that entity is another indie developer as defined by these requirements.
- The owner of the game has no more than 15 full time employees. If the game is published through the account of another indie developer, both developers shall have no more than 15 full time employees combined.
- For virtual reality or augmented reality submissions, the game must use the Google VR SDK or Tango SDK respectively.
Google is currently accepting submissions from indie game devs, and you can start on that process at the online submission form. Submissions will be accepted between now and August 14th, with winners announced by the end of August.
Admission will be open to the public, though registration will be required. Registration for attendance is not yet open, but you can keep an eye on the event page for more information. Google is offering the chance to not only play these games, but also vote on your favorites. Prizes for developers include free tickets to Google I/O 2017, Tango devices, ad campaign support, and more.
Are you an indie dev that has applied for this festival? Let us know what the process is like! Are you simply a fan that’s interested in going and seeing some of the newest indie games available on Android? Tell us what you think about the Google Play Indie Game Festival in the comments below, or on Google+, Facebook, or Twitter.
[button link=”https://events.withgoogle.com/google-play-indie-game-festival/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Google Events[/button]
