At the gamescom 2023 the initiative “Gaming Without Borders” and the mobile service provider congstar will award prizes for inclusion in gaming for the first time. A seven-member jury will recognize games, projects, products, and individuals in five categories for visibility and support of people with disabilities in gaming.
What is it about? At this year’s gamescom, you can attend the first awards ceremony of the “Gaming Without Borders” awards at the booth of the mobile service provider congstar in Hall 9.1. The winners will be announced on August 23 at 3:00 PM.
The awards will be given to games, individuals, projects, products, and persons that have stood out in their respective categories for their performance and representation regarding inclusion.
What awards will be given? Winners will be awarded in a total of five categories:
- Award national
- Award international
- Award representation
- Award hardware & technology
- Award personality
Who is in the jury? The following seven individuals will determine the winners:
- Rae Grimm: Head of Digital Publishing at Webedia Gaming, Webedia Germany
- Melanie Eilert: aka melly_maeh, ambassador for “Gaming Without Borders”
- Dennis Winkens: inclusion ambassador and online editor, known among others as WheelyWorld
- Michael Gurt: Research associate at JFF – Institute for Media Education and participant in the INGame project
- Linda Scholz: Expert consultant at the office for youth media culture as an editor at Spieleratgeber-NRW
- Casey Kreer: expert in digital accessibility
- Svenja Ottawa: partially sighted IT specialist who has already developed accessible software
Who is behind the awards? “Gaming Without Borders” is an initiative for accessibility and inclusion focused on digital games. Its stated goal is to raise awareness of the needs of players with disabilities.
Since its founding three years ago, they have tested games and technologies for accessibility and published their results on their website. Among other things, it is assessed whether games can be played without sound or whether a game offers aids to simplify the controls.
The mobile service provider congstar is a secondary brand of Telekom GmbH. The company maintains a partnership with FC St. Pauli and its eFootball teams. Additionally, they also host their own gaming events and streams.
Together, “Gaming Without Borders” and congstar want to promote inclusion and raise awareness of the needs of gamers with disabilities.
Which companies and organizations you can expect alongside congstar and “Gaming Without Borders” at gamescom 2023 will be detailed in our news:
gamescom 2023: Who is coming, tickets, prices, date, and everything you need to know
Disclaimer: Rae Grimm is Head of Digital Publishing at Webedia Gaming and thus responsible for MeinMMO, GameStar, and GamePro. Rae Grimm is part of the jury of the “Gaming Without Borders” award.
