English

Google Play Indie Games Contest – Terms & Conditions

This Google Play Indie Games Contest (the “Contest”) is run by Google Ireland Limited whose principal place of business is at Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland (“Google”).

To enter this Contest, all participants (whether an independent developer (“Individual”) or a participating business ("Business") which may be represented by a representative of the Business (e.g. an employee or director) ("Representatives"), together “Participants” or “you”) must read and agree to these terms and conditions ("Terms"). By entering the Contest, you agree that these Terms will apply. Participants will not be eligible to receive a prize in connection with this Contest unless they agree to these Terms. Businesses agree that if Representatives clicks the checkbox in the registration form, this will constitute agreement to these Terms. The Representative accepting the Terms on behalf of Business warrants that he or she has full power and authority to do so. Participation in the Contest is purely voluntary. Please do not participate in the Contest if you do not agree with these Terms & Conditions and/or if you do not want your personal data processed.

1.Eligibility

1.1. To participate in the Contest and be eligible for entry, the following conditions must be satisfied throughout the duration of the Contest:

a. Business must be established and have a billing address in one of the eligible territories. The eligible territories are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland) (the “Eligible Territories”).

b. Individual must be a resident of an Eligible Territory.

c. Participant must not be: (i) resident of a US embargoed country, (ii) ordinarily resident in a US embargoed country, or (iii) otherwise prohibited by applicable export controls and sanctions programs from participating in the Contest, or (iv) a wholly or partially state-owned entity or an employee of the government or of a government-controlled entity.

d. Individuals and Representatives must be at least 18 years of age at the time of entering the contest.

e. The Business must not have more than 30 full time employees and must not be a publicly listed company.

f. Only the developer(s) of the game can enter the Contest. If the game is submitted to Google Play by a publisher on behalf of a developer, the contest submission will only be eligible if it’s submitted by the developer(s) and if the publisher is not a publicly listed company and the developer and publisher have a combined total of less than 30 full time employees.

g.The Business will provide its Representatives with a copy of these Terms. Business will, and will ensure that all Representatives will, comply with all laws, regulation and their fiduciary obligations applicable to their entry into this Contest, including but not limited to anti-bribery laws.

h. Participants must not be employees, officers, or directors of Google, its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, or be the immediate family or living in the households of any such persons.

1.2. Representatives acknowledge that any prizes will be awarded to their Business and not to them individually.

1.3. Participants may submit multiple entries to the Contest.

1.4. All determinations of eligibility will be made at Google’s sole and absolute discretion, acting reasonably. Google reserves the right to verify eligibility and to adjudicate on any related dispute at any time. No correspondence will be entered into.

2. How to Participate

Registration

2.1. To enter the Contest, you must:

a. be registered with Google Play (which will require the payment of a one time fee of $25); this requirement is not necessary if the game is published by a publisher on behalf of the developer; 

b. visit the Contest website located at http://events.withgoogle.com/indie-games-contest-europe-2017 and follow the instructions to register for the Contest and for submitting an entry to the Contest;

c. submit a game that complies with the Game Requirements described below (as determined by Google in its sole and absolute discretion) (the “Game”).

2.2. All data provided through the registration process must be complete and correct.

Key Dates

2.3. Contest begins at 9:00am GMT on 19 October 2017 and submissions end at 18:00pm GMT on 31 December 2017 (the “Submission Period”). All entries must be submitted during the Submission Period. Any entries received after the Submission Period will automatically be disqualified.

2.4. The finalists will be announced by 31 January 2018.

2.5. The finalists will be requested to showcase their Games at a final event hosted by Google in London on 13 February 2018 (the “Final”) where they will compete for prizes.

2.6. The winner and runners-up will be announced on 13 February 2018 at the Final.

Game Requirements

2.7. The Game must meet the following criteria (“Game Requirements”):

a. It must not contain, incorporate or otherwise use any content, material or element that is unlawful, or otherwise be in violation of or contrary to all applicable laws and regulations.

b. It must not be derogatory, offensive, threatening, defamatory, disparaging, libelous or contain any content that is inappropriate, sexual, profane, indecent, tortuous, slanderous, discriminatory in any way, or that promotes hatred or harm against any group or person, or otherwise breach the spirit of the Contest, as determined by Google, in its sole discretion.

c. It must not contain any content, material or element that violates any third party rights.

d. It must have been developed by the Participant.

e. If the Game is publicly available in the UK Google Play Store, it must have been published after 1 January 2017. Games soft-launched or published prior to this date, even if in a limited set of countries, are not eligible to enter.

f. If the game is not yet publicly available on Google Play in the UK, it needs to be available at least in open beta by December 31 2017 to be eligible.

g. If the Game is not yet publically available in the UK Google Play Store, it must have a playable demo APK (Android Package Kit) submitted to Google Play as private beta through the Google Play Console and made accessible to the judges by inviting playindiecontest@gmail.com as a beta tester within the Submission Period.

h. For virtual reality or augmented reality submissions, the Game must use the Google VR SDK or the ARCore SDK.

i. In order to be considered for the Unity prize, the Game must be developed using the Unity platform and ported to Android.

3. Determining the Winners

Finalists (up to 20)

3.1. After the Submission Period, the entries will be judged by an initial panel of Google judges and an independent judge, which will evaluate the entries in accordance with the criteria set out in these Terms and select up to twenty (20) Games from all the entries (“Finalists”).

3.2. Participants who are selected as Finalists will be requested to attend to the Final to exhibit and showcase their Games.

3.3. Participants who are selected as Finalists must attend the Final and showcase their Game(s) in order to be eligible to win prizes.

3.4 Google shall cover the costs for travel and accommodation, subject to the provisions contained in Clause 6 below, for up to 2 representatives (one room for each representatives) from each Finalist for 2 nights in a hotel in London. If the Finalists do not wish to benefit from the travel or accommodation, no cash equivalent shall be paid out.

Top 10

3.5. At the Final, the top ten (10) Games (“Top 10”) will be announced. The Participants who are selected as Top 10 will be invited to present their Games on stage to a final judging panel (made up of Google employees and third party industry experts).

3.6. The Top 10 will be selected as follows:

3.6.1. Five Games will be selected by a panel of Google judges; and

3.6.2. Five Games will be selected by public vote of those attending the Final (aged over 18 years of age) based on the overall user experience.

Winners and runners-up

3.7. The final judging panel will select one (1) winner and two (2) runners-up.

Criteria

3.8. The judges will evaluate the entries by reference to the following criteria and percentages:

a. Innovation (30%)

b. Fun (30%)

c. Technical & production quality (40%)

4. Prizes

4.1 Google will award the following prizes set out below:

Finalists (Up to 20)

(i) The opportunity to exhibit and showcase your Game at the Final held at Saatchi Gallery, in London.

(ii) Paid travel and accommodation for 2 nights for 2 representatives (2 rooms) in a hotel in London.

(iii) Promotion of your Game on a London billboard for one (1) month.

(iv) Two (2) tickets to attend a 2018 Playtime event. This is an invitation-only event for top apps and games developers on Google Play.

(v) One (1) Pixel 2 device

(vi) Inclusion of your Game in a dedicated Indie Games Contest collection on the Indie Corner in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Kenya, Malta, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland) for one (1) month. 

Top 10 (in addition to the above)

(i) Inclusion of your Game in the “New Indie Highlights" collection (if the Game is new to Google Play) or in "Our Indie Picks" collection (if the Game was already available in Google Play) of the dedicated Indie Corner in the US for one (1) month.

(ii) Promotion of your Game on Google Play consumer facing channels.

(iii) Promotion of your Game on Android Developer / Play Developer channels.

(iv) One (1) Daydream View 

Top 3 (in addition to the above)

(i) Premium Placement of your Game in the dedicated Indie Games Contest collection on the Indie Corner in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Kenya, Malta, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland) for one (1) month.

(ii) Consideration for placement in other Google Play Store collections (at Google’s discretion).

(iii) A 25,000 EUR voucher from Chartboost, a leading games-platform agency, to be used for a social media marketing campaign ("Voucher") relating to the game submitted to this Contest.

(iv) A 50,000 EUR voucher from Bidalgo , a digital performance marketing agency, to be used for a paid digital marketing campaign regarding to the game submitted to this Contest.

(v) Two (2) x 1 hour sessions of personalized consultation with members of the Google Play team regarding the game submitted to this Contest.

(vi) Two (2) tickets for the 2018 Google I/O and paid travel to San Francisco, subject to Google’s sole discretion.

(vii) One (1) Google Home Mini. 

Winner (in addition to the above)

(i) An additional 25,000 EUR voucher from Chartboost, a leading games-platform agency, to be used for a social media marketing campaign in relation to the Game submitted to this Contest. Chartboost will deduct a discretionary agency fee from the voucher amount.

(ii) An additional 50,000 EUR voucher from Bidalgo, a digital marketing agency, to be used for a paid digital marketing campaign in relation to the Game submitted to this Contest. Bidalgo will deduct a discretionary agency fee from the voucher amount.

(iii) Feature in an Android Developer Story video produced by Google Play and promoted on Android Developer / Play Developer channels.

(iv)Two (2) tickets to attend GDC San Francisco 2018.

Prizes for Unity developed Game(s)

Only Games that have been developed using the Unity platform and ported to Android will be eligible to win Unity prizes. Games that comply with this requirement, may win prizes in multiple categories (i.e. the winner of the Contest can also win the Unity prize, if the winning Game has been developed using Unity). 

Unity prizes to the second and third highest ranked games developed on Unity (in addition to any other applicable prizes)

(i) A 12 months pro Unity subscription.

Unity prize to the highest ranked game developed on Unity (in addition to any other applicable prizes)

(i) a 12 months pro Unity subscription.

(ii) Two (2) tickets to a Unite event of the winner’s choice.

4.2 Restrictions

4.2.1 Winners of tickets to attend events shall be responsible for all travel (except for the paid travel to Google I/O) and accommodation costs , and all other expenses incurred to attend the events, including, but not limited to: any costs associated with obtaining a passport or visa, passenger tariffs or duties, surcharges, airport fees, service charges or facility charges, personal charges at lodging, insurance, security fees and taxes. Google shall not be liable in any way for any such costs.

4.2.2 Winners who entered the contest using an unreleased APK, will need to make their Games publicly available in the Google Play Store (at least in open beta) by 31 December 2017, in order to claim the prizes they are eligible for. Games that are not released publicly will not be featured in the Indie Corner and/or the Google Play consumer campaign and/or in the Android Developer Story. No equivalent of Prizes can be claimed.

4.2.3 If you are a Top 20, Top 10, Runner-up or Winner with a rating lower than 3.8 on the Google Play store on 13 February 2018 your Game will not be included it in the Indie Corner nor in the consumer facing campaign.

4.2.4 All decisions by Google regarding prize winners will be final and binding. No correspondence will be entered into.

4.2.5 All prizes will be delivered to and should be utilized by the winners by 30 June 2018, with the exception of tickets to attend Playtime 2018 (scheduled post 30 June 2018).

4.2.6 Winners will be required to redeem and utilize the Vouchers on or before 30 June 2018. Google reserve the right to change agencies. Each Voucher may be redeemed against the following marketing services which shall be provided by an appropriate agency to the value of the Voucher: (1) agency will engage social influencers to undertake social media marketing campaigns on YouTube on behalf of the Runner up or Winner, promoting the winning games; (2) agency will run a digital marketing campaign promoting the winning games. Vouchers cannot be exchange for their monetary equivalent. For the avoidance of doubt the Agencies mentioned in clauses 4.4.1 and 4.4.2 will deduct a discretionary agency fee from the relevant voucher amount. The Runners up and Winners represent and warrant that prior to the provision of any Services by an agency they will enter into an agreement with the agency that will comply with all relevant laws. Provision of the services by an agency to the Runner ups and Winner shall be governed by that agreement, and not, for the avoidance of doubt, these Terms. Google shall not be a party to the agreement between the agency and the Winner in any manner whatsoever.

5. Notification of Finalists, Winners and Winners’ Obligations

5.1. If you are a Finalist, Google will notify you by sending an email to the address you provided on entry to the Contest no later than 31 January 2018. This email will contain all necessary information relating to the Final to be held in London, including travel information.

5.2. The Top 10, runners-up and winner will be announced on 13 February 2018 at the Final in London.

5.3. Google reserves the right in its reasonable discretion to substitute equivalent prizes of equal or greater value. No cash equivalent of prizes can be claimed. Prizes are non-replaceable.

5.4. You may be required to submit a declaration of eligibility and/or publicity release in order to receive a prize.

5.5. Google is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, mutilated, incomplete and illegible entry materials, or for electronic transmission errors, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry, technical malfunctions of any kind. Entries are void if they are in whole or in part incomprehensible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error, forged, mechanically reproduced or obtained through fraud or theft.

5.6. Google will not be liable for unsuccessful efforts to notify a winner. If a winning Participant declines a prize, does not respond to the prize notification within 5 working days or fails to claim the prize in the manner specified within 5 working days, is unavailable for prize fulfillment, fails to abide by these Terms or is ineligible, Google may select an alternative winner from all remaining Participants.

5.7. The prize may be subject to restrictions and/or licenses and may require additional hardware, software, service, or maintenance to use. If you are a winner, you will bear all responsibility for use of the prize in compliance with any conditions imposed by the prize manufacturer, and any additional costs associated with its use, service, or maintenance.

5.8. If you win a prize, you will be solely responsible for ensuring that you comply with applicable tax laws and filing requirements.

5.9. Prizes are non-transferrable. You may not sell on or give away a prize to other individuals or business.

5.10. Names of winners will be available by sending an email to playdevelopers@google.com before 13 March 2018.

6. Travel arrangements to the Final

6.1 The following terms of section 6, will apply to Participants that are selected as a top 20 Finalist of the Contest and must attend the Final, in accordance with Clause 4.4 and 4.5 above.

6.2 Finalists representatives must travel together at the same time on the same itinerary and must be over 18 years of age. Stop overs may apply. This will consist of economy-class airfare for the Finalists representatives from the airport that is the closest to the city noted on the submission form when the contest was entered, to an airport in the London area; hotel accommodations for two nights in the London area at Google’s discretion; airfare and hotel accommodations will be arranged at Google's discretion - certain blackout dates and travel restrictions may apply.

6.3 Flights will be economy class, may include stop overs and are subject to a total airfare cap depending on the departure country. Caps will be decided at Google's discretion;

6.4 The Finalists will be required to provide Google with all necessary information in order for Google to book travel including, but not limited to, passport information, home addresses and email addresses of Finalists representatives, all information provided will be treated as confidential.

6.5 Google will not be responsible for any other expenses incurred to attend the Final, including, but not limited to: any costs associated with obtaining a passport or visa, passenger tariffs or duties, surcharges, airport fees, service charges or facility charges, personal charges at lodging, insurance, security fees and taxes. In addition, other than the booking of flights and accommodation in accordance with clause 6.2 and 6.3 above, Google will not be responsible for any other aspect of the travel arrangements, including but not limited to, flight or hotel check in, transfers to and from the airports, any extra baggage fees.

6.6 It is the responsibility of the Finalists or its representatives to inform Google of any wheelchair or similar access requirements for the representative(s) when travelling to the Final, and to adhere to any applicable health and safety guidelines.

7. Privacy

7.1. You acknowledge, hereby accept and recognise, under the laws and regulations governing data protection in your country that Google may collect, store, share and otherwise use personally identifiable information provided during registration for the Contest. By entering into the Contest and providing your personally identifiable information you consent that Google will use this information for the purpose of the Contest only and will process any such personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy (http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/). If you do not consent to the processing of your personally identifiable information as described here and detailed in the Privacy Policy, you will not be able to enter and participate in the Contest.

7.2. Your information may also be transferred to countries outside your country residence, including the United States, all countries included in clause 1.1(a) , as well as all other countries in the European Union and European Economic Area. Such other countries may not have privacy laws and regulations similar to those of your country of residence. By your acceptance of the provisions of paragraph 7.1 above, you accept the transfer of your identifiable informations to countries outside your country of residence.

7.3. You have all the rights granted by the applicable privacy legislation including but not limited to the right to request access, review, rectification or deletion of any personal data held by Google in connection with the Contest by writing to Google at playdevelopers@google.com. Participants located in Turkey also have the right to learn whether their personal data are being processed; to request information with respect to that processing; to obtain information as to the purposes of the processing and whether the personal data have been processed accordingly; to know the third persons within or outside the country to whom personal data are transferred; to request the notification to third parties, to whom the personal data have been transferred, of rectification, erasure or destroying operations; to object to any conclusion to their detriment, which results from analysis of the processed data exclusively by means of automated systems; to request compensation for the damages incurred as a result of an unlawful personal data processing.

8. Intellectual Property Rights

8.1. As between Google and you, you retain ownership of all intellectual property rights (including moral rights) in and to any content submitted by you as part of your entry into the Contest. By submitting an entry into the Contest, you grant Google, its subsidiaries, agents and partner companies, an irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive and, unless otherwise agreed, royalty free licence for the maximum amount of time permitted by the applicable law in the entry to use, copy, reproduce, adapt, modify, publish, distribute, publicly perform, create a derivative work from, and publicly display your entry into the Contest for any purpose connected with the Contest, such as, but not limited to: (1) for the purposes of allowing Google and the judges to evaluate your entry for purposes of the Contest and identifying winners to the public, and (2) for the purposes of advertising and promotion, and press and media communications.

8.2. You promise that you are entitled to any intellectual property rights in your entry and that you have not copied your entry, in whole or in part, from any other existing work to which you do not have exclusive intellectual property rights. You agree to indemnify and hold Google harmless against any third party legal proceeding arising from an allegation that the entry infringes or misappropriate any third party’s rights, including intellectual property rights.

8.3. By accepting a prize, Participant grants to Google a worldwide, irrevocable, sub-licensable, and non-exclusive licence to use Participant’s name, business name, brand features and website address for advertising and promotional purposes (including, without limitation, the promotion of the Contest) for the full period of protection of any applicable intellectual property laws.

8.4. Participants agree to participate in any media or promotional activity regarding the Contest if they win a prize and, in that event, will grant to Google, to the extent permitted under applicable law, a worldwide, irrevocable, sub-licensable, and non-exclusive licence to use Participant’s name, image and likeness for advertising and promotional purposes.

9. Right to cancel, modify or disqualify

9.1. If for any reason outside Google’s control, the Contest is not capable of running as planned (which may include tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, printing errors, or any other causes which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Contest), Google may, at its sole discretion, cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest.

9.2. Google may, acting reasonably: (a) disqualify any participant who tampers with the submission process or any other part of the Contest or whose conduct is contrary to the spirit of the Terms or the intention of the Contest and declare void any or all of their entries based on such conduct; or (b) declare void any entries resulting from any errors materially affecting the result of the contest or the number of entrants.

10. Limitation of Liability & Disclaimer of Warranties

10.1. Nothing in these Terms will exclude or limit the liability of Google or its affiliates for:

a. willful misconduct or gross fault,

b. death or personal injury as a result of the negligence of Google or its affiliates, servants, agents or employees;

c. fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or d. any other liability that may not be excluded or limited under applicable law, including, but not limited to, liability for damages caused intentionally or with gross negligence.

10.2. Subject to clause 10.1, Google shall not be liable under or in connection with this Contest (whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise) for any:

a. loss of profit; or

b. indirect or consequential losses; suffered or incurred by you (whether or not any such losses were or were not foreseeable or within the contemplation of the parties) unless such limitation of liability is prohibited under local law.

10.3. Subject to clause 10.1(c), and to the extent permitted by law, all warranties, conditions or terms, express or implied, relating to the prize, its use, value or enjoyment, including (without limitation) its satisfactory quality or fitness for purpose, are excluded, with the exception of any standard manufacturer's warranty that may apply to the prizes.

10.4. Subject to clauses 10.1 and 10.2 Google's total liability to a Participant under or in connection with this Contest (whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise) is limited in aggregate to £25,000 unless such limitation of liability is prohibited under local law.

11. Severability

If any provision(s) of these Terms are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

12. Google Play

Distribution of the Game through Google Play is governed by the Developer Distribution Agreement found at https://play.google.com/about/developer-distribution-agreement.html (or such other URL as Google may specify), or any other similar agreement for distribution of the Game provided by Google, but not, for the avoidance of doubt, these Terms.

13. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

Where a Participant enters this Contest from within the European Union, Iceland or Norway, these Terms shall be governed by, subject to, and construed in accordance with the laws of the EU Member State (or Iceland or Norway, where relevant) in which the Participant is resident and the Participant shall submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that EU Member State (or Iceland or Norway, if relevant) in relation to any dispute (contractual or non-contractual (including negligence)) concerning these Terms or this Contest. For entrants from outside the European Union, Iceland or Norway, these terms shall be governed by, subject to, and construed in accordance with English law and you and Google submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts in relation to any dispute (contractual or non-contractual) concerning these Terms.

14. Import and Export Laws

Participants acknowledge and agree that the Contest (including the award of prizes) may be subject to certain export laws and regulations.