IGF China Student Competition

OFFICIAL RULES

The Independent Games Festival China Competition - Student Category (the "Contest") is being sponsored by UBM (the "Sponsor") in connection with the Game Developers Conference™ China to be held November 12-14, 2011 (the "Conference"). Each person or entity who enters the Contest (each, an "Entrant") agrees to abide by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of the Sponsor and its judges, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to the Contest.

HOW TO ENTER:

To enter the Contest, an Entrant who is otherwise eligible under these Official Rules must submit all of the following materials at any time until September 5th, 2011 (the "Entry Deadline"):

• A properly completed official entry form located here.
• A digital copy of the game being entered (an "Entered Game"), submitted by either way below:
  
  1) Uploading the title to the official Contest Website (specific FTP account will be allocated after you submit the entry form)
  
  2) Posting a URL with a playable web game
  
  3) Sending 10 physical copies of the Entered Game (Mailing Address: 9/F, Ciro's Plaza No. 388 West Nanjing Road, Shanghai, China; Postal Code: 200003 Telephone: 86-21-61577252 Consignee: Anne Yao). If sending physical copies, ten (10) copies of the game will be entered (each, an "Entered Game"), in playable form, on ten (10) separate CD-ROMs, along with ten (10) sets of any special equipment and hardware, (e.g., graphics cards, 3D glasses, etc.) necessary to play the Entered Game, if applicable, as well as any other supporting materials.
  
  All physical entry materials become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned (no IP rights are affected).
  

FINALIST REQUIREMENTS:

Any Student Finalist that does not satisfy all of the requirements of this section may be disqualified, and Sponsor may select an alternate Student Finalist Game from the remaining Entered Games.

Each Student Finalist will be required to exhibit its Finalist Game at the Conference. Exhibition duties will include: (i) staffing a display pod; (ii) demonstrating the Student Finalist Game during specified hours; and (iii) conducting oneself in a manner that upholds the good name and reputation of Sponsor, the Conference, and the Contest. Sponsor will provide one (1) display pod at the Conference for each Student Finalist, which will consist of a counter, hook-ups for electricity and Internet connectivity, and signage indicating the name of the Student Finalist and the name of the Student Finalist Game. Each Student Finalist will be expected to supply its own computer, console, or other platform required to display its Finalist Game, along with any additional hardware necessary to operate the Finalist Game.

Any individual Student Finalist who is unable to attend may officially nominate a proxy attendee. The name and contact details should be electronically mailed to igfchina@gdconf.com within ten (10) days after notification of nomination has been sent to the Student Finalist. Proxy attendees must perform the same duties as the actual Student Finalists.

Each Student Finalist will be responsible its own costs of travel, meals, accommodations, and equipment in connection with the Contest and the Conference. All Student Finalists must be in sufficient physical condition for safe travel to the Conference.

Each Finalist will receive:

• Two (2) All Access passes to the Conference (approximate value of $1800.00)
• Up to six (6) Expo Passes to allow access to the GDC China Show Floor to showcase the game
• An award certificate
• Mention in Game Developer magazine
• Mention in Gamasutra.com
• Coverage in a Sponsor-issued press release
• A profile in the event's awards program

RESTRICTIONS/ELIGIBILITY:

The Contest is open only to individuals 13 years or older who are full or part-time college or high school students. Individuals under the age of 18 years must provide evidence of parent or legal guardian consent satisfactory to Sponsor. And the following additional requirements must be met:

• Student Requirements: The spirit of the Contest is to showcase what students can do, unassisted by professionals. As a result, only games that have been developed entirely by full or part-time college or high school students are eligible for entry. If a game has been developed with significant portions of the assets contributed by a professional, it is not eligible for entry. If entrants to the Contest are in doubt about the amount of externally created or contributed content in their game, please contact the organizers for clarification.
• Updates: Entered Game updates are permitted during the Nominating Period. Patched updates from competitors via FTP or CD-ROM will be permitted throughout the judging process. However, Sponsor does not guarantee the viewing or application of every patch/update by the Nominating Committee.
• Installation: All Entered Games (except for Web Browser Games) must include an automated installation and uninstallation routine.
• State of Development: All Entered Games must be in a "beta" state or better (i.e., Entered Games must be feature-complete). At least one (1) level of each Entered Game must be complete and fully playable.
• Platform: Entered Games may run on any platform (PC, Mac, console, PDA, mobile, etc.). Any Entrant submitting an Entered Game that requires special hardware (e.g., uncommon PDAs or older consoles) may be contacted by Sponsor to obtain the hardware at the Entrant's sole expense.

TERMINATION:

Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest in its sole and absolute discretion if the Contest becomes technically corrupted or is not capable of being run as planned, including infections by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Contest. In such event, Sponsor will post notice at the Conference and on the Contest Website and will implement an alternate means for awarding all prizes.

FOR ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I live outside China. May I enter the IGF Main and/or Student Competition?

A: Yes, if you live in the Pan-Pacific area, including anyone in the Asian and Australasian regions.

Q: We are working on more than one game. Can more than one game be entered in the IGF Main and/or Student Competition?

A: Yes.

Q: If I'm invited to appear at the IGF Competition in December, do I have to bring my own computer or console/handheld too?

A: Yes. The Festival management will provide the display pod and the Internet connections (if required) for all finalists at IGF China 2011, but you will need to bring your own PC/console and other accessories.

Q: My game is complicated. How can I make sure that judges understand and play it correctly?

A: One excellent way to do this is via video. We allow you to attach a video link to your submission or even upload it to FTP alongside your submission. Also feel free to link to other background information.

Q: Can I update my game after entering the competition?

A: If you submitted via FTP, you can upload new builds of your game at any time. Please make sure you include the upload date in the filename so judges can easily see which the latest is. Please note that after the competition deadline, judges may look at your game at any time. You can continue giving us new versions, but we only absolutely guarantee that judges will see the version of your game uploaded at deadline time.

Q: What systems must a game run on?

A: The IGF China Competition officially supports any platform - PC, console, web, etc. Some of our judges also have access to console development kits - please specify what is needed in your submission. We may need your help arranging some hardware if it's an older console or something hard for us to lay our hands on, but we will bend over backwards to support whatever platform you run on.

Q: It's been X days since the deadline for submissions has passed. Is it too late to enter our game into the festival?

A: If you don't make the cutoff date, we can't accept your game. Sorry -- it's in the interest of fairness to all the other entries, who had to cut their development cycle short to get their games in on time. You can always enter the Competition next year!

If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us.

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