This is the first time leading companies and influencers have planned a major blockchain gaming award ceremony. The GAM3 Awards hosted by Polkastarter Gaming is a first-of-its-kind event that celebrates web3 and blockchain gaming and aims to empower such projects. About 200 projects will compete in the GAM3 Awards event for 16 awards that industry veterans and experts will judge.
Community voting will be opened shortly in mid-November for the top five choices in each category, and the final results will be announced on December 15, 2022, the GAM3 Rewards event day. The first edition of the web3 gaming rewards is a new step in recognizing the efforts of blockchain game builders in the industry.
“We called it the “GAME” awards, with a 3, to keep the focus on the actual games themselves, get rid of the web3 jargon and negative connotation, while still paying tribute to the underlying web3 tech that we believe will help shape the future of gaming.”
Omar Ghanem, Head of Gaming at Polkastarter
Judges and Judging Criteria
The game projects will be judged based on graphics, core mechanics, replayability factors, player experience, and accessibility. In addition, all participating games must have blockchain integration; otherwise, their entry will be canceled.
The judges include Justin Kan- Fractal founder, Itai Elizur – Managing Partner at Market Across, Urvit Goel – Head of Global Games at Polygon Studios, Rachel Levin – Director of Venture & Strategy at ImmutableX and Matt Sorg – Head of Technology at Solana Foundation.
These judges are responsible for voting on projects that will eventually decide which projects move forward in this event. An all-star jury has also been formed that includes 30+ experienced people in the blockchain industry, such as Sarutobi Sasuke – Head of Partnerships at YGG, Dan Patterson – General Partner at Sfermion, Brendan Wong – CEO at Avocado DAO, Jesper Lindquist – Senior Manager Web3 Gaming at Animoca Brands, Yoshihisa Hashimoto – former Square Enix CTO and many more.
There will be 16 categories for the jury members and the community to vote on and decide who walks away with the prize for each. The weightage of Jury votes is 90%, whereas community votes only hold a 10% weightage. Based on the jury’s nominee, 5 projects from each category will be shortlisted and opened for community voting on Polkastarter Gaming’s website.
Award Categories and Nominees
| Award Category | Nominee 1 | Nominee 2 | Nominee 3 | Nominee 4 | Nominee 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game of the Year | Illuvium | Big Time | Gods Unchained | The Harvest | Superior |
| Most Anticipated Game | Illuvium: Overworld | Shrapnel | Star Atlas | Ember Sword | The Treeverse |
| Best Graphics | Illuvium | Star Atlas | Metalcore | Big Time | My Pet Hooligan |
| Best Action Game | Big Time | Illuvium | Metalcore | Guild of Guardians | Superior |
| Best Mobile Game | Guild of Guardians | Splinterlands | Blast Royale | Thetan Arena | Skyweaver |
| Best Adventure Game | Big Time | Earth from Another Sun | My Pet Hooligan | The Sandbox | Aurory |
| Best Casual Game | Blankos Block Party | Thetan Arena | My Pet Hooligan | Axie Infinity Origins | Legends of Venari |
| Best RPG | Big Time | Illuvium | Aurory | SIPHER | Phantom Galaxies |
| Best Shooter Game | Metalcore | EV.IO | Undead Blocks | Delysium | Earth from Another Sun |
| Best Strategy Game | Gods Unchained | Cross the Ages | Skyweaver | Immortal Game | Cards of Ethernity |
| Best Card Game | Gods Unchained | Splinterlands | Axie Infinity Origins | Skyweaver | Cards of Ethernity |
| Best Multiplayer Game | Blankos Block Party | My Pet Hooligan | Metalcore | Big Time | EV.IO |
| Best Esports Game | EV.IO | Metalcore | Gods Unchained | Planet Mojo | Spider Tanks |
Rewards
The winners of the GAM3 Awards will share a prize pool of $300,000 from sponsors such as Machinations, Naavik, Ultra, Immutable X, and Blockchain Game Alliance. In addition, the event will also provide huge exposure to the projects and media coverage.
The “Best game in” awards will be given for categories such as RPG, Shooter Game, Graphics, Strategy Game, Card Game, Multiplayer Game, Esports Game, Graphics, Action Game, Mobile Game, Adventure Game, and Casual Game. In addition, there will be a “Game of the Year” award which will be decided by the jury members only. On the other hand, the “People’s Choice and Best Content Creator” award will be completely decided through community votes.
