RGA Terms and Conditions

1. Description and General Overview

The Romanian Game Awards (“RGA”) gala aims to acknowledge and reward the most notable achievements and products created by the Romanian game development industry. Formerly known as the “Dev.Play Awards”, as of 2023, the Gala is expanding to encompass more categories and a dedicated in-person event in Bucharest, Romania. The RGA Gala is organized by RGDA – the Romanian Game Developers Association (the “Organizer”).

The RGA Gala will have two main sections. The first one is dedicated to the games presented at the Indie Festival feature of the Dev.Play Conference. This section is focused on independent games from Eastern Europe. The second part of the RGA Gala is focused on the Romanian game development industry and will award companies, institutions and games with the most notable results throughout the year.

The categories awarded during the RGA are listed here.

The RGA features a panel of independent jury members, which are listed here.

Several categories are judged exclusively by the RGDA Board and are indicated as such in the Categories section.

The timeline for the RGA is:

  • Call for submissions: Jul 31st – Aug 31st
  • Jury deliberations for the Romanian Game Industry Awards section: Sep 15th – Sep 29th
  • Jury deliberations for the Dev.Play Awards section: Sep 18th – Sep 29th
  • The awards Gala: October 10th

2. Submissions & Rules

Important notes:

  1. The Dev.Play Awards and the Romanian Game Industry Awards have different submission and judging processes! Please read carefully the notes below when considering a submission, including the Disclaimers section.
  2. All submitting participants acknowledge that they have read and agreed to these rules – including the Disclaimers section below – and are fully responsible for the information provided through the submission forms. If at any point you decide you no longer agree to these rules, please notify the organizers at awards@rgda.ro to withdraw your participation.
  3. The submission forms will require the participants to include download links for certain assets. The links provided must remain active until the end of the jury deliberation period, as indicated above.

Section 2.1. Dev.Play Awards

All games present at the Dev.Play Indie Festival will automatically submitted for the Dev.Play 2023 Awards, assuming they meet the eligibility criteria mentioned below. If an Indie Festival participant does not want to have their game entered in the Dev.Play Awards section, a notification must be sent at awards@rgda.ro.

2.1.1. Award Categories

Participating games will compete in the following categories:

  1. Dev.Play’s Most Popular Game
  2. Best Game Design
  3. Best Visuals
  4. Best Innovation
  5. Best Game of the Show

2.1.2. General Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility period: To be eligible for the Dev.Play Awards 2023, a game must be unreleased or must have released no earlier than October 1st, 2022. (the “Eligible Start Date”).

Eligible countries: Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Moldova, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia.

Past winners: Games which have won Dev.Play awards at past editions are not eligible to participate in a category that they have won in the past.

Independent studios: Every company or an individual that submits a game must be completely independent meaning that they do not have majority control in the company by a video game publisher, they are not a subsidiary of an international video game publisher and their production/game is funded in majority through various independent sources.

Free participation: Participating at the Dev.Play Awards is completely free of charge, subject to any other rules applicable for the Dev.Play Indie Festival, as mentioned on the Dev.Play website. To note, participating in person at the Romanian Game Awards Gala will still required a valid paid ticket. Having a representative present at the Gala is highly recommended but not mandatory (nominated games will still be judged and are eligible for awards, even if there is no studio representative physically present at the Gala).

2.1.3. Jury and judging process

The Organizer will set up an international judging panel that will select the finalist nominees and award winners for the categories mentioned in section 2.1.1. RGDA staff and board members are excluded from the jury of the Dev.Play Awards and have no input in the judging process.

During the judging process, each jury member will decide on their own a shortlist of three titles for each category. Then, all jury members will meet and decide together on a winner for each category. In certain situations (such as a very close call between two titles), the jury may decide to appoint a Runner-Up for a category.

The winner of the category “Dev.Play’s Most Popular Game” will be decided by public vote, through a voting form created by the Organizer and made available to Dev.Play participants during the conference days. 

The SUBMISSION FORM for the Dev.Play Awards can be found HERE.

Section 2.2. Romanian Game Industry Awards

Submissions for most categories in this section (exceptions indicated below) need to be done by the participating studio / company / institution, by filling in the form below and providing all required information and assets for the respective category.

The following categories are judged and awarded directly by the RGDA Board or experts appointed by the RGDA Board, based on their direct experience and knowledge of the local industry companies and individuals. Submissions are not open for these categories.

  • Game Industry Star Supporter Award
  • Outstanding Achievement for the Romanian Game Dev Industry

2.2.1. Award Categories

The Romanian Game Industry Awards section of the RGA Gala will present awards for the following categories:

  1. Independent Studio of the Year
  2. Best Marketing Campaign For A Game In Romania
  3. Best International Franchise Game Developed In Romania
  4. Best Game Development Education Program In Romania
  5. Game Industry Star Supporter Award
  6. Outstanding Achievement For The Romanian Game Dev Industry
  7. Romanian Game Of The Year

2.2.2. General Eligibility Criteria

Participants for the open submission categories of the Romanian Game Industry Awards section of the RGA must be Romanian individuals or legal entities.

The time period evaluated for the Romanian Game Awards 2023 is 01-July-2022 to 31-August-2023 (the “Eligible Time Period”). Unless otherwise specified for any category, all submissions will be evaluated based on the activity during the Eligible Time Period. Additional eligibility criteria specific for each category are covered in the next section.

2.2.3. Category Judging And Specific Requirements

Independent Studio of the Year

Specific eligibility:

  • Participating studios must have released a title (at least in a public beta) or must have made a significant announcement during the Eligible Time Period.

When evaluating this category, judges will take into account the game(s) released by the studio in the Eligible Time Period (including – if available – user reviews, critical reviews, download figures, etc), notable media or press materials about the studio, marketing campaigns led by the studio, or any other notable achievements. When applying for this category, studios should consider including links to such public information / materials.

Best Marketing Campaign For A Game In Romania

Specific eligibility:

  • Campaigns can be submitted either by the game’s developer or by their marketing / PR agency.
  • Campaigns must have been active at least partially during the Eligible Time Period and must have been active in Romania.

When evaluating this category, judges will take into account the overall notoriety of the campaign, the channels / media used, how relevant the campaign is for the Romanian public, any innovative aspects, and the impact of the campaign. When applying for this category, studios will be asked to include information relevant to the above, including KPIs indicating the results of the campaign.

Best International Franchise Game Developed In Romania

Specific eligibility:

  • Participating games must be submitted by the development studio.
  • Public proof of development participation is required (i.e. credits mention, press release, etc).
  • Details about the sections of the game developed in Romania will be required in the submission form. Development contributions which are not material enough may not be considered eligible.
  • Participating games must have been released (at least in a public beta) during the Eligible Time Period.

The winner of this category will be decided through a public voting campaign. The Organizer will create a public voting form which will be made available on the RGA website. The voting form will be promoted by the Organizer through its own channels, but selected nominees are encouraged to promote the category themselves as well.

Best Romanian Co-Development Project

Specific eligibility:

  • Participating games must have been developed or co-developed by studios which have ‘work-for-hire” as main activity.
  • Co-development effort should include at least one key area of game production: engineering, art or design.
  • Public proof of development participation is required (i.e. credits mention, press release, etc). Development contributions which are not material enough may not be considered eligible.
  • Details about the sections of the game developed in Romania will be required in the submission form. Development contributions which are not material enough may not be considered eligible.
  • Participating games must have been released (at least in a public beta) during the Eligible Time Period

When evaluating this category, judges will take into account the critical success of the title (i.e. Metacritic grades, user reviews, etc) and the details about the development effort provided through the submission, in order to evaluate the impact the studio’s contribution had on the success of the game. Participating studios are encouraged to include any available public information, articles or case studies about their contribution to the project.

Best Educational Program

Specific eligibility:

  • This category is open for all types of educational programs, whether they are private or public, and regardless of education level (university-level or higher, high-school, below high-school).
  • The category is aimed at organizations or institutions that have formal education as a core focus. Specifically, educational programs organized by game studios (such as internships, workshops, game jams, etc) are not eligible for this category.
  • Participating programs must have been active at least partially during the Eligible Time Period.

The winner of this category will be decided by the RGDA Board, after careful consideration by its members or by experts appointed by the board members.

Game Industry Star Supporter Award

Through this category, the RGDA Board aims to acknowledge the persons or institutions which have contributed significantly (whether through time, effort, knowledge or paid sponsorship) to RGDA’s campaigns or events, during the Eligible Time Period. Submissions are not open for this category.

The winner of this category will be decided by the RGDA Board, after careful consideration by its members or by experts appointed by the board members.

Outstanding Achievement For The Romanian Game Dev Industry

Through this category, the RGDA Board aims to acknowledge sustained and significant contributions by a person or institution to the development of the industry in Romania, throughout their entire professional activity. Submissions are not open for this category.

The winner of this category will be decided by the RGDA Board, after careful consideration by its members or by experts appointed by the board members.

Romanian Game Of The Year

Specific eligibility:

  • Participating games must be submitted by the development studio.
  • Specifically for this category, participating games must have been released (at least in a public beta) no earlier than January 1st 2022.

During the judging process, each jury member will decide on their own a shortlist of three titles for this category. Then, all jury members will meet and decide together on a winner. In certain situations (such as a very close call between two titles), the jury may decide to appoint a Runner-Up for the category.

The SUBMISSION FORM for the Romanian Game Industry Awards can be found HERE.

Section 3. Disclaimers

  1. All submitting participants acknowledge that they have read and agreed to these rules – including this Disclaimers section – and are fully responsible for the information provided through the submission forms. If at any point you decide you no longer agree to these rules, please notify the organizers at awards@rgda.ro to withdraw your participation.
  2. The information provided in the submission forms will be used by the Organizer and RGA jury for the assessment of the awards categories. Strictly confidential information (protected by NDAs) should not be included in the submission forms. The Organizer cannot be held liable for any information disclosed through the submission forms for the Romanian Game Awards.
  3. The assets provided through the submission may be used by the Organizer to prepare materials necessary for the production of the awards Gala. By submitting a form for RGA, participants grant permission to the Organizer to use the submitted assets on the event website, in marketing materials for the RGA and during the awards Gala.
  4. Submissions which do not respect the eligibility criteria mentioned above will be disregarded.
  5. In the case of incomplete submissions (information provided is not sufficient or asset links are not functional), the Organizer will send one (1) notice at the provided contact email. Submissions which are still incomplete at the end of the call for submissions will be disregarded.
  6. The Organizer reserves the right to decline participation for submissions which include illegal content or are deemed discriminatory in any way.
  7. The Organizer will make best efforts to ensure the independence of jury members for each category. Jury members with will not participate in judging categories where they have a conflict of interest.
  8. The Organizer reserves the right to change these conditions and regulations or to add and remove categories for the Awards, taking into account logistics, public interest and feedback. Any changes which would require awards participants to be notified in advance will be announced to the public in due time.
  9. The Romanian Game Awards Gala takes place exclusively in-person. We reserve the right to decline access to persons which are not appropriately dressed or bother other attendees. Recommended dress code is smart casual or more formal. By participating at Dev.Play Conference and the Romanian Game Awards, you accept to be photographed or filmed by our professional staff. Such materials may be used by organizers for promotional purposes (for example, on social media, etc).