Frequently Asked Questions

First create an account by clicking "Create Account" button at the top of the page. Then go to your Dashboard and your Team. After that you can submit your Game from the Dashboard.

You can also watch quick (90 seconds) instruction video here: How to Join the Championship?

Every game has to have a Team to be able to be submitted. Team, in the context of GDWC, means the public entity behind the game. This can be a development team or studio, a group of game jam developers who made a game together, a group of friends or colleagues,or a solo developer.

Solo developers can participate alone. You just need to create your one-person Team for your game. Every game has to have a Team tobe able to be submitted.

We reserve the right to refuse an application.

No, your game can be in any phase of development. The only requirement is that you will need to have a playable build or prototype. You are free to update/edit your submission until the submission deadline.

We don't currently accept physical games to the competition due to the logistical challenges they present.
We'll change this once we can figure out a good way to handle logistics for physical games.

Yes. Games that are still in development can be submitted for the GDWC. This includes games clearly in any in-development phase like Early Access, Soft Launch, Open Beta, Closed Beta, Open Alpha, Closed Alpha, Open Pre-Alpha, Closed Pre-Alpha, etc., and have not reached an official full release status.

Yes. You just need to ensure your team(s) all include you in them when submitting their games.

There are several communities of game developers on services such as Facebook and Reddit. You may also be able to find a local IGDA chapter or university with game development in it.

We also have a Discord Server for all GDWC participants and everyone interested in games and game development. It's a great place to network with other developers. Join our Discord server here.

Yes, we have a Discord server. Join our Discord server here.

Yes. You can submit as many games into the contest as you like. To do so, follow the instructions in the entry submission platform after registering.

If you have a technical or submission issue, please contact our support at . For other inquiries, you can reach us via email at .

You can also find us in many social medias. Links to our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Youtube can be found at the bottom of the page. You can also find us in the GDWC Community Discord. Join our Discord server here.

Yes! Links to our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Discord can be found at the bottom of the page. Link to our Developer Discord is also on your profile page.

For support in technical issues, contact us at .

Contact our support at as soon as possible from the same email address you used to register your account.

No. As mods generally require another game to run, we don't currently accept them into the competition.

No. As DLC and Expansion Packs generally require another game to run, we don't currently accept them into the competition.

No. Due to the potentially challenging legal nature of Fan Games and the materials used in them, we've ruled Fan Games out from the competition.

Please check out the current championship rules here for latest information.

Please check out the current championship rules here for latest information.

Please email us at

Please contact us at

The earlier in the Championship period you submit your game, the more engagement and votes, and more exposure it can gather. It also has a better chance to be featured in our own channels.You can update your submission throughout all the way until the end of the submission period.

Yes you can.

The keys are for judges and for our team. The typical split is 3 keys for judges and 2 for us.

We use at least one key for testing the game, but sometimes use two on different accounts so that multiple team members can test out the games at the same time or not be locked out of testing one game because someone is testing another. We also use our keys for streaming and other content creation to promote the games.

Three keys are reserved for judges, as we have a minimum of 3 judges per category. Sometimes there might be more judges in a category, so we might have to request additional keys for judges later.

Keys are asked beforehand for checking the games and for logistical reasons. There's hundreds of games to check each year and a limited time to do this, so asking for keys in that short time frame would risk many developers missing the key request and us having to pass multiple games simply due to the game not being available at the right moment.

We have thegdwc.com, thegdwc.net, and thegdwc.fi domains. The .net and .fi domains redirect to thegdwc.com.

Emails coming from thegdwc.net are from us. Just make sure that it indeed is from thegdwc.net and that the sender has not been spoofed.

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