Italian Video Game Awards 2023: Winners and Controversies
The Italian Video Game Awards (IVGA) 2023 were held on July 6, 2023, at Nana Bianca in Florence, Italy, as part of the First Playable B2B event organized by IIDEA and Toscana Film Commission. The awards, now in their tenth edition, have evolved from the Drago d'Oro awards (founded in 2013) which initially focused on international titles. Since 2020, IVGA has exclusively honored Italian productions with an international jury. This year's winners included Ubisoft Milan as Outstanding Italian Company, Cristina Nava for Outstanding Individual Contribution, Saturnalia by Santa Ragione for Best Innovation, Venice 2089 by Safe Place Studio for Best Italian Debut Game, and tERRORbane by BitNine Studio for Best Italian Game. The ceremony faced criticism for being rushed. Past controversies include the 2019 award to Remothered: Tormented Fathers (transphobic) and 2022's Martha is Dead (positive Nazi occupation portrayal). Over 500 professionals from 180 Italian studios attended First Playable 2023.
Key facts
- Italian Video Game Awards 2023 held on July 6, 2023 at Nana Bianca, Florence.
- Event organized by IIDEA and Toscana Film Commission.
- Awards evolved from Drago d'Oro (2013) to focus solely on Italian productions since 2020.
- International jury introduced in 2020 to increase global visibility.
- Ubisoft Milan won Outstanding Italian Company.
- Cristina Nava won Outstanding Individual Contribution.
- Saturnalia by Santa Ragione won Best Innovation.
- Venice 2089 by Safe Place Studio won Best Italian Debut Game.
- tERRORbane by BitNine Studio won Best Italian Game.
- Over 500 professionals from 180 Italian studios participated in First Playable 2023.
- Only 7% of Italian studios' revenue comes from Italy.
- Past controversies include Remothered: Tormented Fathers (2019) and Martha is Dead (2022).
Entities
Artists
- Thalita Malagò
- Stefania Ippoliti
- Pietro Righi Riva
- Francesco Berton
- Giacomo Checchin
- Andrea Leoni
- Matteo Leoni
- Luca Spazzoli
- Cristina Nava
- Julián Palacios
Institutions
- IIDEA
- Toscana Film Commission
- Fondazione Sistema Toscana
- Ubisoft Milano
- Santa Ragione
- Safe Place Studio
- BitNine Studio
- Stormind Games
- LKA
- Nintendo
- Ubisoft
- Sardegna Film Commission
- Artribune
- First Playable
- Italian Video Game Awards
- Drago d'Oro
Locations
- Florence
- Italy
- Rome
- Venice
- Sardinia