The Entertainment Software Association and Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences have begun accepting submissions for their annual game art exhibit.
While every game is born from an amalgamation of skills and effort, there’s little getting around the importance of their art. From the earliest days of the medium art has been there, giving guidance and visualization to concepts and worlds often before even the first line of code. For more than a decade now, the fine folks behind Into the Pixel have worked to honor that contribution with an annual art exhibit aimed at showcasing the best works of game art from that year. With its twelfth exhibit in the works, its co-producers at the Entertainment Software Association and The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences have announced that they’re now accepting submissions.
Those submissions will be judged by a panel of figures from the games industry including Blizzard’s senior art manager Seth Spaulding, iam8bit founder Jon Gibson, Big Red Button CEO Bob Rafei and more. The art pieces selected will be premiered at this year’s E3 from June 16th to the 18th. The submissions process itself will remain open until April 10th. Submissions may include any piece of in-game, concept, character or environmental art that game makers feel to be worthy of consideration. Some of the winners from 2014 include the likes of Destiny, The Last of Us and The Banner Saga.
Discussing Into the Pixel with The Escapist, AIAS president Martin Rae described it as being akin to a visual “time capsule” of the industry. “This will be the twelfth year Into the Pixel has been in existence, and each year feels like a time capsule into some of the most brilliant and innovative games of the year,” he said. “There are so many aspects that go into the craft of game making – coding, project management, narrative, technology platforms and art. But it’s ultimately the artist’s vision and interpretation that really helps to bring a game together. Its important to highlight these artists who are so very often in the background, and we hope that Into the Pixel brings these images and people to the forefront to recognize their very important contributions.” We’ll be eager to see which art pieces are highlighted later this year at E3 2015.
Interested? You can find out more information about submissions here.
