The Serious Games Showcase & Challenge submissions closed in mid-September and the committee is hard at play evaluating the submissions to ensure the best exemplar serious games are selected as finalists to be showcased in the EcosySTEM of Learning Pavilion & Discovery Den at I/ITSEC 2026 Nov 30-Dec 3 in Orlando, Florida.
The SGS&C finalists will be judged by our panel of international evaluators and conference attendees, with winners announced at I/ITSEC on Thursday, Dec. 3 at the SGS&C Awards Ceremony.
“So much happens behind the scenes supported by our all-volunteer committee and panel of evaluators,” said Jenn McNamara, Breakaway Games, and director for the SGS&C. “Our committee meets year-round and is responsible for all aspects of the event and competition: marketing, public outreach, planning, and logistics. The members represent highly diverse backgrounds, including commercial game developers, educators, instructional designers, customers, technology enablers, and researchers. Our evaluator pool brings together even more representatives from the serious games community.” You can view the current leadership here. McNamara said that anyone interested in joining the committee should contact SGS&C to learn more about opportunities to get involved with the SGS&C.
“Submitting a game and volunteering as an evaluator are how I got started with the SGS&C,” said Trey Reyher, 2026 Industry Committee Lead. “Evaluating games is a great way to support the event and get exposed to the larger SGS&C community. It’s a commitment of a few hours over the last six weeks prior to I/ITSEC to play and score the games, and you walk away with an in-depth view of the finalists and get to play some interesting, innovative, and fun serious games.”
The SGS&C sponsors for 2026 are: AVT Simulation, BreakAway Games, Engineering & Computer Simulations, Hatalom Corporation, NTSA, Trideum, Xiphos, HP, box.com, and NTSA. These sponsorships bring another participation opportunity, where companies demonstrate their commitment to advancing the role of serious games and XR applications within the DoD and civilian virtual training programs. Sponsorships are still available; if your organization is interested, more information is available here.
Questions about the competition or serving on the committee can be sent to [email protected]. If you’re interested in becoming an evaluator, fill out the survey at https://sgschallenge.org/evaluator-participation-survey/.
Come back and look for our update next month when we announce our 2026 SGS&C finalists, so you can plan your visit to booth #2281 to play the games, interact with the developers, and vote on your favorite game for the coveted People’s Choice Award!
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