2011 - Multiple award winner Minecraft has now sold almost 2 million copies and spawned a worldwide cult around its charming open-world game design.
2010 - Playdead's stark monochromatic platform title Limbo is a smash hit on Xbox Live Arcade, following its summer 2010 release, picking up a 2011 Game Developers Choice Award for Best Visual Arts.
2010 - The team behind 2009 Student Showcase finalist Tag: The Power of Paint are hired by Valve to implement new paint gun mechanics into Portal 2.
2009 - The Behemoth's follow-up to Alien Hominid, the IGF-winning Castle Crashers, tops XBLA charts to critical acclaim.
2009 - IGF multi-award winner World Of Goo launches as one of the best-selling, best-reviewed WiiWare titles of all time, alongside a popular PC version.
2009 - Petri Purho's Crayon Physics Deluxe spawns an iPhone version courtesy of Hudson, plus a popular PC downloadable version.
2008 - The team behind IGF Student Showcase finalist Narbacular Drop is hired by Valve. The game is reworked into Portal and goes on to win the coveted Game Developer's Choice "Best Game" award for 2008, as well as numerous game of the year accolades.
2008 - Design Innovation winner Braid debuts on Xbox Live Arcade to significant success.
2008 - Excellence in Audio winner Audiosurf launches on Valve's Steam distribution service and goes on to become the highest selling game of February, outselling even Valve's own Orange box (including Team Fortress 2 and Game Developer's Choice "Best Game" winner Portal.)
2007 - Design Innovation winner Everyday Shooter is signed by Sony for distribution on the PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network, after Sony's John Hight plays the game at the IGF Pavilion during GDC 2007 - Everyday Shooter's Jon Mak also appears at the inaugural Independent Games Summit.
2006 - Grand prize winner Darwinia gets both digital distribution via Valve's Steam system and U.S. retail distribution from new indie label Cinemaware Marquee.
2005 - Multi award-winner Alien Hominid receives publishing deals in the U.S. (via O3 Publishing) and Europe(via Zoo Digital), much critical acclaim, and even spawns a mobile version.
2005 - Fan favorite N wins the audience award, and, as N+, releases as a hit XBLA title, as well as notable Nintendo DS and Sony PSP versions.
2004 - Innovative casual strategy game Oasis wins the web/downloadable grand prize, going on to launch on major online portals the following year.
2003 - Super X Studios' Wild Earth, a photographic game based around a worldwide safari, takes multiple prizes and subsequently becomes a motion simulator ride and eventually (in adapted form) a Wii title.
2000 - Tread Marks, created by the late Seumas McNally, which the IGF's grand prize is now named after, wins 3 major awards.
1999 - Vicarious Visions, now a major handheld / console developer, honored for Terminus.
IGF 2012 Main Competition Entrant
Project Zomboid
Company: The Indie Stone (Newcastle, Northumbria - United Kingdom)
Description: Project Zomboid is an open-ended zombie-infested sandbox being developed Minecraft-style for PC, Linux and (with a degree of fiddling) Mac. It asks one simple question how will you die? Whether surviving in Knox County free-roam or controlling Indie Stone mascot Baldspot in his quest to save his injured wife Kate death is always a certainty. Quite how long gamers manage to put it off is another matter.
The game is funded by would-be survivors paying for a key that will guarantee them access to Knox County throughout its development. Despite a recent set back after an office break-in we are currently building towards our second major update which will add in NPC survivor activity. After that we will be doubling the size of the map and adding in a saving facility. As the IGF judging process rolls on we anticipate that Project Zomboid will have evolved further and further towards completion.
The Indie Stone themselves are an international indie collective that covers the talents of Chris 'Lemmy' Simpson, Andy 'Binky' Hodgetts, Marina 'Mash' Siu-Chong and 'The' Will Porter. Alongside a group of cherished contributors, modders and supporters it's their continuing mission to create the zombie game they always dreamt of, but no-one else ever made.
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If you see any information about Project Zomboid that needs to be corrected or updated, contact the IGF Chairman.
