The Independent Games Festival (IGF) has named the main competition finalists for its historic tenth annual set of awards, celebrating what are considered to be some of the most ground-breaking creations to come out of the independent game community this year.

Simon Carless, Chairman of the IGF noted, ’’We’re delighted to see the propulsive growth of independent games, with a record number of entries this year and so many innovative, alternative titles of such high quality. We congratulate all of our nominees and hope that, like their predecessors before them, their work and these games inspire more and more developers to join the independent game community."

From a record field of 173 entries, nominations were led by 2D Boy’s physics construction game World of Goo and Invisible Handlebar’s music-adapting puzzle racer Audiosurf. Games were adjudicated by a panel made up of the creators of previous IGF honorees Aquaria, Braid, Cloud and N; industry veterans from studios including Foundation 9, Crytek, Electronic Arts, Big Huge Games and Midway; and noted journalists from Newsweek, Games For Windows Magazine, Joystiq, Wired, Kotaku, MTV News, and more.

World of Goo and Audiosurf were both nominated for three prizes, including the $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize category; other multiple nominees include 2D/3D platform title Fez, physics-heavy steampunk flying combat title Hammerfall, and Guitar Hero controller-using action game Fret Nice. Other notable nominees for the 10th Annual IGF Awards include stylish 2D pixel action title Noitu Love 2: Devolution, design-nominated bird-watching casual title Snapshot Adventures: Secret Of Bird Island, and evocative art-game The Path.

In addition, an initial set of sponsors for the 2008 Independent Games Festival have been announced. Wizards of the Coast’s Gleemax.com is 2008 Platinum Sponsor, alongside Sony and Microsoft as Silver Sponsors and DigiPen as Platinum Student Showcase Sponsor.

The finalists will compete for more than $50,000 in prizes, including a $2,500 Audience Award determined by fan votes online at IGF.com. Nominated games will be exhibited at the IGF Pavilion, February 20-22, and announced at the IGF Awards Ceremony on February 20, at CMP’s Game Developers Conference (GDC). GDC, the world’s largest industry-only event dedicated to the advancement of interactive entertainment, takes place February 18-22, 2008 at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center.

This year GDC features two additional events geared to the independent games community: IGF Mobile, with $20,000 in prizes awarded during GDC Mobile, celebrating the innovation of games for cellphones and other mobile devices including Sony’s Playstation Portable and the Nintendo DS; and the Independent Games Summit, now in its second year as a two-day subsummit of GDC where notable independent creators gather to discuss the business and art of indie game creation. Information on these events and more is available at http://www.gdconf.com/.

The finalists for the 2007 Independent Games Festival are: Seumas McNally Grand Prize: * Audiosurf, by Invisible Handlebar, LLC * Crayon Physics Deluxe, by Kloonigames * Hammerfall, by GKosh * Noitu Love 2: Devolution, by Konjak * World of Goo, by 2D Boy, LLC Best Web Browser Game: * Globulos.com, by GlobZ * Iron Dukes, by One Ton Ghost * Tri-Achnid, by TriAchnid Inc Design Innovation Award: * Battleships Forever, by WYRDSYM Games * Fez, by Kokoromi * Fret Nice, by Bits & Pieces Interactive * Snapshot Adventures: Secret Of Bird Island, by Large Animal Games * World Of Goo, by 2D Boy, LLC Excellence in Visual Art: * Clean Asia!, by Cactus? * Fez, by Kokoromi * Hammerfall, by GKosh * Synaesthete, by DigiPen Institute of Technology * The Path, by Tale of Tales Excellence in Audio: * Cinnamon Beats, by Secret Exit * Fret Nice, by Bits & Pieces Interactive * Audiosurf, by Invisible Handlebar, LLC * Clean Asia!, by Cactus? * OokiBloks, by Studio Work3 / Hermit Games Technical Excellence: * World of Goo, by 2D Boy, LLC * Audiosurf, by Invisible Handlebar, LLC * Goo!, by PillowFort * Axiom: Overdrive, by Reflexive Entertainment * Gumboy Tournament, by CINEMAX, s.r.o.

The IGF was established in 1998 by the CMP Game Group to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers, in the way that the Sundance Film Festival honors the independent film community. A separate set of finalists, for the Student Showcase award, will be announced December 17.

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the world’s largest professionals-only game industry event. Presented every spring in San Francisco, it is the essential forum for learning, inspiration, and networking for the creators of computer, console, handheld, mobile, and online games. The GDC attracts over 16,000 attendees, and is the primary forum where programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, business decision-makers and others involved in the development of interactive games gather to exchange ideas and shape the future of the industry. The GDC is produced by the CMP Game Group, a division of CMP.

CMP is a media and marketing solutions company serving the technology industry. With the leading online, event and print brands in all technology market categories, and with services and tools that reach beyond traditional advertising, CMP shapes and influences the technology industry worldwide. CMP publishes highly respected media brands such as TechWeb, InformationWeek, ChannelWeb, CRN, EE Times and TechOnline; produces major industry events such as Interop, Web 2.0 Expo, XChange, Game Developer Conference and the Embedded Systems Conferences; and provides business information and marketing services such as the International Customer Management Institute, Semiconductor Insights and Second Life consulting for technology marketers. CMP is a subsidiary of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion. For more CMP news, go to cmp.com/news

For more information on the Independent Games Festival, please visit: www.gdconf.com.

To learn more about the Game Developers Conference, please visti: www.gdconf.com.