PGDA calls for the 3rd edition of the Austrian-wide Talent Award!

The Austrian game development association is proud to announce the 3rd edition of the Austrian Talent Award. We are overwhelmed by the success of this initiative and how quickly it became a well-established Institution in our local developer landscape.

Since its foundation the essential objective for PGDA is strengthening the educational efforts in Austria and to encourage young talent getting started in the games industry. The goal for this award is to cherish the outstanding quality in game curricula across Austria, visible through the astonishing projects created by highly skilled students for their graduation. Basically, PGDA wants to recognize and celebrate the outstanding work done by schools that have established internationally acclaimed curricula for games, putting a spotlight on their long lasting achievements. A big thank you for that!

The increased visibility resulting from this award helps students to potentially commercialize their projects and explore entrepreneurial opportunities, such as forming a company around their first game. Taking inspiration from many successful predecessors and best practices from various universities and schools, this initiative showcases Austria’s thriving game development industry and raises awareness among decision-makers.  

Road to the award

Based on the success of the Talent Award in previous years, PGDA is happy to see that many schools integrated the award in their curriculum hence it became almost natural for students to prepare an award submission during summer semester. Therefore this is not a call to action, but a reminder and information outreach to communicate the organizational framework for this year’s edition.

• Submission Start: April 6th, 2025
• Submission Deadline: May 1st, 2025 – 23:59
• Jury Evaluation period: May 2nd – June 1st, 2025
• Level Up – The Gaming Festival: June 28th – 29th, 2025

Like in previous years a jury consisting of game industry professionals will assess all applications based on the criteria listed in the terms & conditions. Based on these criteria the jury will create a shortlist of 3 projects that are invited to present their games at a booth (one for each project) at Level Up – The Gaming Festival in Salzburg in June 2025.

Please take a moment to give the first two winners of the Talent Award in 2023 & 2024 a big applause. The team of Coral Cove, students from FH Salzburg & the team of Roguebot, students from FH Hagenberg were the winners in previous years and took advantage of their grand prize, a booth at gamescom in Cologne, by extending their network and meeting many international industry people.

Award Ceremony Level Up Festival July 2024

Award Ceremony

There are a lot of good reasons to participate in this award. Next to the chance to present your game for free (besides travel & accommodation costs) at Level Up – The Gaming Festival and the increased visibility, PGDA in collaboration with FH Salzburg, who hosts the Indie Games Area, offer the following prizes:

• The winner gets a booth at gamescom in Cologne in August 2025
• The winning team gets a 6-month mentoring program supported by established studios and local senior developers across all disciplines
  • This will help you shape your project and take the first steps in a possible commercial future

Booth at Austrian gamescom group stand 2024

PGDA is proud of the scene we have in Austria and the knowledge as well as experience that is available. Like last year an international jury consisting of Austrian professionals working abroad will judge the submitted projects.

Terms and Conditions

As follows a brief overview of what is mandatory to submit your project:

• You need to actively study at a school or university in WS 2024 & SS 2025
• Provide a playable build
• Submit a Pitch Deck
• Provide a Trailer & Screenshots
• Provide a video showing pure gameplay with a maximum duration of five (5) minutes.
• Cover picture, so-called packshot vertical 600*900 (think of Steam capsules)
• Hand in a PR Factsheet

Or read the full Terms & Conditions!

Thanks for your attention and stay tuned for more information to come soon!

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