Today Activision has announced the winners for their Independent Game Competition. The competition was juried by IndieCade, a festival that  ”encourages, publicizes, and cultivates innovation and artistry in interactive media.” IndieCade is basically to the video game industry what Sundance is to the film industry.

The first place and  cash prize of $175,000 went to Christopher Hui’s Iron Dragon, an action-adventure title tailored to take full advantage of of touch screen devices. The runner up and cash prize was awarded to Michael Stanton’s Planet Smashers, an action-oriented multiplayer title Stanton built from the ground up himself. Here are some words from Activision’s Vice President Of External Development.

“We were excited with the quality, creativity and diversity we saw in the submissions we received for the Games Competition,” said Dan Winters, Activision’s Vice President of External Development.”While the games themselves varied, the unifying theme for everyone involved in the competition has been passion. We want to thank the talented developers who submitted their work and our partners at IndieCade. The energy and enthusiasm of the indie community continues to inspire us and we’re thrilled to help make their dreams become reality.”

Gamers (myself included) have often criticized Activision for being an evil money grabbing corporation that smothers innovation and growth for a quick fat paycheck. While I still stand by that opinion, it’s good to see a large corporation (especially in the video game industry) show great support to the indie scene and its developers.

For more fun times and gaming shenanigans, stick around here at GU!