Submissions to Open May 1
The Serious Games Showcase & Challenge (SGS&C) is back — and we’re calling on innovators from government, industry, and academia to get ready. SGS&C opened its 2026 call for submissions, and the game submission window officially opens May 1.
Hosted annually at I/ITSEC, SGS&C is the premier event for spotlighting games that deliver measurable training or educational outcomes. Finalists gain exposure to top leaders in modeling, simulation, and training — and winners earn recognition for serious impact.
“Now in its 21st year, SGS&C is more relevant than ever,” said Trey Reyher, 2026 Industry lead. “It’s the premiere showcase for immersive training and advanced simulations from around the world, from far-reaching defense and medical applications to novel university research. If your game makes an impact in the real world, it belongs in the Challenge!”
Since its inception, SGS&C has been dedicated to advancing the art and science of learning through games. Entries are evaluated on criteria like solution effectiveness, technical quality, and playability. We welcome submissions from student and professional developers, with each finalist team invited to showcase their game live at I/ITSEC in Orlando this November/December.
SGS&C Director Jennifer McNamara, Breakaway Games, emphasized the value of participating. “The challenge opens doors,” she said. “Our goal is to open minds to the potential of games as a component of a broader modeling and simulation (M&S) strategy for education, training, research, and assessment. Finalists have gone on to deploy their games in operational environments, secure funding, find employment, forge new partnerships, and explore future educational opportunities. I am especially proud that last year two of our 2024 student-developer winners from the University of Florida not only returned with a second finalist game, but were presented with postgraduate scholarships from NTSA at I/ITSEC, Jane Apostol was a recipient of the 35th Annual RADM Fred Lewis Postgraduate Scholarship and Ziad Al-Rady was a recipient of the 9th Annual Leonard P. Gollobin Postgraduate Scholarship, both will use these funds to support their graduate studies in interactive multimedia at UCF FIEA.”
For those planning to submit, now is the time to start prepping. The SGS&C website offers details on eligibility, judging criteria, past finalists and winners and will be your home for submitting.
Candidates should stay tuned as the official opening of the 2026 Challenge Submissions is May 1. Let’s see what the next generation of serious games can do.
Recognizing the People and Partners that Make SGS&C Happen
The SGS&C Organizing Committee is a volunteer-driven effort, made up of a diverse group of individuals whose work is supported by their organizations and companies. SGS&C enjoys continued growth and recognition because of these people, their supporting organizations, and our partnership with I/ITSEC. Check out this year’s leadership and team members. We are thankful for our great new members stepping up to participate and for the continued support of our long-term members and advisors.
Our sponsors help us create an amazing presence in the Exhibit Hall and to provide awards to our winners. Sponsors gain recognition across the diverse I/ITSEC audience, we thank our early and returning sponsors: AVT Simulation, Engineering and Computer Simulations, Inc., Hatalom Corporation, Trideum Corporation, Box, HP, NTSA, and BreakAway Games. Additional sponsorships remain available, see the prospectus or contact us for for an overview of available sponsorships and benefits.
Selected winners from international serious game challenge events will be featured finalists as part of SGS&C 2026. SGS&C are thankful to the organizers of regional challenge events for their leadership and efforts to feature serious games as part of their events and for supporting select winners to participate as part of the SGS&C. The game submission window for SGSCE is open now, we are excited to see the participants highlighted as part of the SGSCE taking place once again at the Defence Simulation Education & Training Conference (DSET) in Cheltenham from June 23-25, and to learn which winner will participate as part of SGS&C 2026.
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