Google Play's Indie Games Festival celebrates indie devs and their games on September 23

Along with many other announcements made that year, 2016 also saw Google announce the first annual Google Play Indie Games Festival, which, as the name subtly implies, celebrated indie games and the developers behind them. Fast forward to 2017, and the now-annual event is taking submissions for this year’s celebration.

Developers have until August 6 to submit their mobile games through an online form. From the pool of submissions, 20 developers will be picked as finalists to demo their games in front of a panel of judges. Three awards will be available for winners, but the real point of the event is to get their names out there and directly talk to some of the folks that download their games.

Of course, the latter will be more difficult if thousands of people attend the Indie Games Festival. That was not the case last year – the event saw around 300 attendees – and this year’s event looks to be no different.

According to Joshua Cruz, public relations manager for the developer platform at Google, the company wants an intimate setting for developers and regular folks to interact with each other. Google also views the Indie Games Festival as a way for lesser-known developers to gain the visibility they seek for their games:

Really this effort is about bringing more visibility to indie developers on Google Play. Historically, we see indies building some of the most creative experiences in mobile gaming. They tend to be first adopters of new technology and rethink the way users engage with games.

The second annual Google Play Indie Games Festival is set to be held in San Francisco on September 23. If you are an indie developer, you can click the source link below to submit your game.