The GameZone is a digital playground and dedicated to different formats from indie games to VR installations and game jams! The GameZone has established itself as a particularly dynamic area at the ITFS. Since the GameZone was first held in 2013, the number of visitors has risen from 500 at the beginning to around 16,000 today. In the past years, the GameZone mainly took place in the Kunstgebäude, other venues included the Kunstmuseum, Breuninger and the Jugendhaus Mitte.
The unique selling point of GameZone is the combination of animation and games and the associated strong visual and aesthetic orientation of the games offerings. In addition, GameZone addresses the qualitative aspects of interactive applications in the context of social and cultural effects and possibilities like no other comparable event. Another important aspect of GameZone is the mediation and critical examination of computer games and interactive applications.
Animated Games Award Germany
Since 2016 the ITFS presents the Animated Games Award Germany. In 2023 for the seventh time the Animated Games Award Germany is awarded to the German computer game which stands out from competition by its special visual design and aesthetics. The jury pays particular attention to artwork, imagery and character design. The award‘s objective is to strengthen the interlinking of games and animated film as regards content, as well as promote the artistic quality of games.
This year’s winner of the Animated Games Award Germany will be announced on Wednesday, April 26 at 6:30 p.m. during the Tickstar Professional Awards ceremony.
The five nominees will be presented within the GameZone during the ITFS onsite at Königsbau-Passagen Shopping Centre (EG) where everyone can play the games free of charge.
Wed, 26. April – Sat, 29. April, from 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Venue: Ground Floor of Königsbau Passagen, in front of SATURN
The nominated Games
XEL
Action-Adventures
Developer: Maurice Hagelstein, TinyRoar
Publisher: Assemble Entertainment GmbH
Itorah
Roguelite, Action Platformer
Developer: Sascha Vogel, Grimbart Tales
Publisher: Assemble Entertainment GmbH
Chained Echoes
Role play
Developer: Matthias Linda
Publisher: Deck13 Spotlight GmbH
Hell Pie
3D-Platformer
Developer: Dominik Plaßmann, Sluggerfly GmbH
Publisher: Sluggerfly GmbH
Signalis
Survival Horror
Developer: Barbara Wittmann, rose-engine
Publisher: Humble Games
Local Heroes – Kokolores & Friends
The Kokolores is a collective and office community for companies and freelancers from the creative industries. Among other things, we create films, web series, VR experiences and video games. As part of the Gamezone we are proud to present some of our members and their projects. And because more is possible together, we have a few more companies from the region in our luggage.
Some of the productions you see on these pages are already finished and you can buy and download them for example at Steam. Many are still in development and you can have a first look at them. This is where the games of tomorrow are created. It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on them.
