Nominees for the 13th iteration of the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) were announced on Thursday. A total of 159 games have been nominated this year, and just like before, all mobile gamers are free to vote for their favorites and help them win the Public Choice Award. Apart from that, the IMGA jury will vote for 12 other awards, including The Grand Prix. If you’re interested in casting your vote for the Public Choice Award which IMGA also calls the People’s Choice Award, all you have to do is follow the source link below and register for a free IMGA account. Note that you can only vote for a single game across all categories, though. All winners will be announced at a special event in San Francisco on February 28.
Apart from voting for the best mobile game, the IMGA jury will also decide on more specific awards like the Best VR Game, Best Multiplayer Game, and the Best Upcoming Game. As expected, the list of this year’s nominees is extremely various. Most mainstream titles like Batman: The Telltale Series, Star Wars: Force Arena, Rome: Total War, Deus Ex GO, FIFA Mobile Football, Super Mario Run, and Pokemon GO are nominated in at least one category, but there are also a few surprises and indie gems that received their due recognition this year. Rusty Lake: Roots, Space Marshalls 2, and Battle of Polytopia are some of these games, and it’s possible that their nominations will provide them with more attention from the general public.
Mobile gaming as a whole has evolved a lot in recent years and is currently by far the most profitable segment of the video games industry. Many free-to-play and premium mobile games are doing well in the market and an increasing number of independent developers is refocusing their efforts on mobile platforms, i.e. Android and iOS. The same also holds true for major publishers like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft who see mobile games as low-risk investments capable of generating excellent returns. Given that state of the market, it’s to be expected that the general quality of mobile games will continue increasing in the near future.