Turner Broadcasting’s GameTap broadband gaming service has announced a new program intended to help support independent game development today. Named GameTap Indies, the program will primarily focus on bringing independent games onto GameTap’s main service along with providing promotion and marketing with GameTap’s Original Games label. To kick off the new program, GameTap will be issuing an award during this year’s Independent Games Festival, which is held during the annual Game Developers Conference, beginning March 7. The GameTap Indie Award will be given to three developers. The main prize is $10,000 and a five-year contract, while the two runner-ups will be given $5,000 and a five-year contract. The prize will also contain a GameTap Indie distribution offer.
Ricard Sanchez, Vice President of Content for GameTap, touted the rising success of independent developers. "With GameTap Indies, we are giving developers and publishers the chance to put their game in front of an audience that otherwise might not see it. There is a lot of innovation happening in gaming today that can only thrive on the hard drives and computer screens of gamers because of the boundless broadband frontier. With GameTap’s expansive reach and unique model, we will be able to offer forward thinking game designers a platform for success."
With the rising focus on episodic gaming, companies focusing on digital distribution and broadband Internet, independent developers are starting to become the rage again. While critics may say that innovation has been on the decline for the past 5 to 10 years, companies like Turner Broadcasting System, game publishers like Gamecock Media and broadband gaming services like Steam and GameTap are trying to shift the focus back onto independent ideas and innovation. GameTap’s Original Games label currently hosts two resurrected products from the past; Telltale Games’ episodic game series Sam & Max: Season One (read GamerNode’s review of the latest episode here) and Cyan Worlds’ MMO Myst Online: Uru Live.
