There are many components that make playing a game a memorable experience — be it gameplay mechanics, graphics, narrative, characters, or genre. Even before a game is playable, most players are enticed by information about the game, its premise, and the concept art that gives players a glimpse into the universe development studios will create through code. Fortunately, other organizations realize this and want to recognize the video game artists who paint those pictures of a game still in the works.
Each year, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) come together to host the “Into the Pixel” (ITP) video game art exhibit, which celebrates video game artists. Now in its 13th year, the exhibition provides video game artists with a chance to have their work reviewed by industry experts from both the digital and fine arts world. Exposure is the grand prize for ITP winners, as their work is premiered at E3 and other events and venues. Artists may submit in-game or concept artwork. The submission deadline for this year is April 22, 2016.
According to the ITP website:
“Each year’s collection covers a broad spectrum of genres and platforms, and reflects what the jurists feel represent the best art in the interactive entertainment platform from the past year.”
Award winning pieces from the 2015 ITP collection included concept art from notable games like Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Ori and the Blind Forest, Overwatch, Battleborn, Destiny, and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. To view concept art from the 2015 winners, click here.
Personally, I would love to see Compulsion Games’ We Happy Few or Frogwares’ The Sinking City submit to this competition. While a game is in development, it’s the concept art that provides players with a flavor of the game before it moves to demo or beta, and, quite frankly, most concept art is stunning.
We Happy Few concept art from the game’s website.
The Sinking City draws from H.P. Lovecraft and his work Call of the Cthulu.
Have you seen concept art that knocks your socks off? Share it in the comments below, and tweet the game dev studio to submit to IAP 2016!
