The finalist games for the FSPlay will compete for their award on December 9
Industry: Entertainment & Games
They will support their bid before a jury made up of journalists specialized in the framework of F&S and will receive their award at the closing gala of the festival, at the Guggenheim Museum The FSPlay, which brings together proposals from around the world, is endowed with 7,000 euros and the Best Basque Game, with 5,000 243 applications have been submitted from 44 countries: the nations with more participants, after Spain (85) have been the USA (17), India (14), France (13) and Iran (13)
Bilbao (PRUnderground) November 23rd, 2018
Fun&Serious Game Festival, the biggest videogame festival in Europe, that celebrates its eighth edition in Bilbao next December, strengthens its role in the promotion of the independent arena with two awards specially designed to reward emerging talent: FSPlay and the Titanium Award to the Best Basque Game.
The first, that recognize the best independent playable proposals developed between October 1, 2017 and October 31, 2018 and are organized under the auspices of BEAZ Bizkaia and Bilbao City Council, are endowed with a monetary prize of 7,000 euros, while the Prize for the Best Basque game receives 5,000 euros. 243 candidates have been submitted to this call, from 44 nations. After Spain (85 titles presented are national), the countries with more participants have been the USA (with 17), India (14), France (13), Iran (13), United Kingdom (11) and Germany (9). Poland, with 7 proposals, China, with 5 and Australia, also with 5, make up the list of nations with more representation. 18 of the titles submitted to the contest come from Euskadi.
Both categories – which have just define their short-list of finalists – are decided in a day of presentations before the jury next Sunday, December 9, as part of the festival. Journalists specialized in the sector (Julen Zaballa, Antonio Santo, Aimar Alonso) make up the jury along with José Martínez Burgos ‘Hafo,’ coordinator of FS Play, and responsible for selecting the best ones that, in both categories, will collect their prize during the grand closing gala of the festival that takes place, as celebrated, according to custom, in the Guggenheim Museum.
FINALISTS
Four Spanish titles, two German games and an Austrian proposal are the candidates this year to FS Play. The digital simulator developed by Fictiorama Studios and Badland Publishing, ‘Do not feed the monkeys’, which allows the player to check the privacy of dozens of strangers while he struggles in his everyday life; ‘Gris’ (Nomada Studio), an evocative puzzle that follows a melancholic protagonist; ‘Moonlighter’ (Digital Sun), an ARPG/Roguelike about a shop owner who dreams of becoming a hero and ‘Bring You Home’ (Alike Studio) that develops the interstellar adventures of an alien who is desperate to save his pet, are the national proposals. They compete against the Austrian title ‘Euclidean Sky’ (Miro Straka), about the inherent hedonism of free play; and the German games ‘State of Mind’ (Daedalic Entertainment), a futuristic tale about transhumanism, and ‘Supertype’ (Phillipp Stollenmayer), a puzzle that explores the limits of physics, in which letters are transformed into objects.
As regards the finalists for the Best Basque Game, the selected ones have been ‘Wahkan’, in which a young man must prove himself worthy successor to the shaman of an ancient tribe; the platform game ‘Jera’, in which the protagonist, while gaining mobility is affecting the stability of the planet; and ‘Submersed’ a game of horror and survival which places the player before his own terrors.
After the day of presentations before the jury on Sunday, December 9, the winners will receive their trophies in the traditional closing gala of F&S, to be held at the Guggenheim Museum in the evening of the 10th. There they will not only receive their trophy but also will meet with the creators of large productions and consolidated studios and will share a box with industry giants such as Brenda Romero (Wizardry), Jade Raymond (Assassins’ Creed, Watch Dogs) and Fumito Ueda (The Last Guardian, Shadow of the Colossus), who will receive at this edition the three honorary prizes. The historic honorary record of F&S brings together industry icons such as Jeff Kaplan (Overwatch, WoW), Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia), John Romero (Doom, Wolfenstein), Yuji Naka (Sonic), Alexey Pajitnov (Tetris)
Trip Hawkins (Founder of EA) or the father of Monkey Island, Tim Schafer.
About Fun & Serious Festival
The Fun & Serious Game Festival, held every December in Bilbao, is the largest video-game festival in Europe and a key meeting-point for the industry as a whole.
The event’s mission is to recognize and promote the work of video-game producers, directors, artists and developers, based on a comprehensive program of conferences, roundtables, networking and activities, aimed at both companies and the general public. As is customary each year, the Festival will conclude with an exclusive Grand Prize-Winning Gala for the best video-games of the year.
The Fun & Serious Game Festival enjoys the support of the Basque Regional Government – SPRI, Bilbao City Hall and the Provincial Council of Biscay. The event’s strategic partners include Microsoft, PlayStation and Ubisoft. The Festival features the collaboration of the Spanish Video-Games Association (AEVI), UTAD, Virtualware and Digipen.
