With the category "Best Live Game", for the first time awards will also be given to games that have already been inspiring a large community for many years and that have developed particularly positively in the past year. There are also innovations in other award categories: In the "Studio of the Year" category, factors such as quality as an employer, corporate development, innovation or social responsibility are included in the assessment in addition to product success. For the first time, companies without a currently published game can also be honored. In addition, suggestions from third parties are possible in this category in order to be selected for the Studio of the Year. The voting in the "Player of the Year" category has been revised to allow for fairer competition. Thus, the expert jury first determines three to a maximum of five nominees. These are then submitted to both the main jury and the community for voting. With these innovations, the organizers of the award are taking up feedback from submitters and the jury.

Felix Falk, game managing director: "Like the games industry, the German Computer Game Award is also continuously evolving. Among other things, with the opening of the category `Best Studio` and the new category `Best Live Game`, we want to honor award-worthy games and studios from Germany that, despite outstanding achievements, are still too rarely in the spotlight. It also makes it even clearer that the success of games and studios always depends on a variety of factors: From a strong team and good community work on expertise, experience, diversity, creativity, innovative capacity to sustainable business and an understanding of social responsibility."

The 16 award categories 2022 and endowments at a glance:

• Best German Game
  (endowed with 100,000 euros for the winning game and each 30.000 euros for the two other nominees)
• Best Family Game (endowed with 40,000 euros)
• Young Talent Award Best Debut
  (endowed with 60,000 euros for the winning game and 25,000 euros each for the two other nominees)
• Young Talent Award Best Prototype
  (endowed with 50,000 euros for the winning game and 25,000 euros each for the four other nominees)
• Best Innovation and Technology (endowed with 40.000 Euro)
• Best Game World and Aesthetics (endowed with 40,000 Euro)
• Best Game Design (endowed with 40,000 Euro)
• Best Serious Game (endowed with 40,000 Euro)
• Best Mobile Game (endowed with 40,000 Euro)
• Best Expert Game (endowed with 40,000 Euro)
• Best Live Game (endowed with 40.000 Euro)
• Best International Game (undoped)
• Best International Multiplayer Game (undoped)
• Player of the Year (undoped)
• Studio of the Year (endowed with 50.000 Euro)
• Special Jury Prize (endowed with 10,000 euros)

Games that have been released or will be released between January 29, 2021 and the day of the award ceremony on March 31, 2022 can be submitted. This also applies to games that are in the early access phase or soft launch. Repeat submissions are not permitted. In the "Best Live Game" category, games can be submitted in multiple years and regardless of release date, as long as they were not nominated as "Best Live Game" in the previous year. Prototypes in the category "Young Talent Award Best Prototype" may not have been published by the time of the award ceremony. For the "Best Innovation and Technology" category, not only computer games but all innovative games-related projects are eligible. Titles can be submitted in several categories. The award winners will be determined in a two-stage process by expert juries and a main jury. The conditions of participation are available here.