Welcome to the 8th Annual Mod of the Year Awards - the premiere event that celebrates the best creations within the modding and indie gaming scene. Developers have delivered plenty of great gameplay experiences this year, and now it is our turn as gamers to nominate and recognize the best of 2009.

From now until Feb 20th, we shall be sharing a year in review and showcasing the editors' picks of 2009, culminating in the announcement of this year's best mod and game as voted by you. The top mods and games will win the honors of being placed alongside other projects that have gone on to become commercial successes and cement their place in ModDB's hall of fame. And to the winner goes the spoils; ModDB has teamed up with a whole lineup of sponsors that have provided prizes ranging from software to servers to beanbags. Everything to help budding developers excel at their craft.

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Competition

2009 has come and gone in the blink in an eye, and with it came some big announcements. This year two projects worked on for an astonishing 7 years The Nameless Mod and Out of Hell were released. Another project Curse, amazed us when we discovered it was largely made by one individual. Killing Floor the mod went commerical with a little help from Tripwire, and took the sales charts by storm, topping Steam for a few weeks. Unity and UDK went free to indies, opening up a whole new world of possibilities to developers, who now have many of the tools (previously only affordable by the big studios), at their fingertips. Finally, not to be outdone we announced Desura our stealth project (two years in the making) which we hope changes the way you find and play PC games and mods. But for now lets forget all of that, and focus on the many mods and indie games released this year. For the next two months we shall be showcasing the best of 2009, and we'd like you to help us by voting for your favorites, as we work towards announcing the 2009 MOTY.



The Awards

Phase 1: Nominations

From December 20th to January 5th every indie game and mod on the site has a voting booth activated in their profile. It is now up to you, to find your favorites, play them and vote for them - so we can narrow thousands of contenders down to the players choice top 100...

Phase 2: Top 100

On January 6th the Top 100 mods and indie games you voted for in phase 1 will be announced and a second round of voting will commence until January 20th. Again, it is up to you, to vote for your top 3 in this list - so we can narrow the top 100 down to a handful of winners...

Phase 3: Winners Showcase

Early February after thousands of votes have been tallied, we shall be announcing the 2009 Players and Editors Choice winners. These indie games and mods will be showcased in an exclusive video presentation and editorial writeup. Download links will be given so you can play the years best.


The Winners

The Prizes

Picking a winner from 6,100 mods and 740 indie games all of which are built on different game engines, platforms, genres and themes is no easy feat. We know everyones tastes differ and we can only recognize the efforts of so many. So if you want your favorite to win remember EVERY VOTE COUNTS (last years results were incredibly tight). We've got graphics and embed code to help you get your friends and fellow gamers voting and playing the great mods and indie games on offer. The award categories this year are:

Players Choice

  • Top 10 Mods
  • Top 5 Upcoming Mods
  • Top 5 Indie Games
  • Top 5 Upcoming Indie Games

Editors Choice

  • Best Original Art Direction
  • Best Upcoming Mod
  • Best Upcoming Indie Game
  • Best Indie Game
  • Best Single Player Mod
  • Best Multiplayer Mod

The ultimate honor is claiming the 2009 Mod of the Year Trophy and joining an elusive lineup of past winners. Last years winner Project Reality continues to grow in popularity and has big plans ahead. Winners before that including Garrys Mod, Red Orchestra and Natural Selection are now commerical success stories. In addition to the recognition being a MOTY finalist will bring your project, this year thanks to a lineup of sponsors, we have an assortment of prizes to give away. We've got DVDs, magazines, hosting, game servers and other things to help your team develop the best game they can.

2009 Mod of the Year Prizes

The Rules

The following are basic rules which apply to all participating teams. Read on for the full legal terms.

"start voting and may the best mod win!"

  • All active mods and indie games will show a "voting area" in their profile.
  • The top 100 is determined by "quality" of vote. For example a vote from a long time member is worth more than a new members vote which is again worth more than a guests vote.
  • In phase 1, all visitors of Mod DB can nominate as many mods as they want to appear in the top 100.
  • In phase 2, all visitors get to pick their top 3 mods and games from the top 100 list.
  • Any mod / indie game can make the top 100 except for mods / indie games released in previous years which have not released a significant update in 2009.
  • No mod / indie game can win in the same category twice. Eg. a mod cannot win "best unreleased" two years in a row, only a honorable mention will be given in this situation.
  • Exceptions to the above rule maybe granted on request by the Mod DB. Eg. if your mod moves from v1 to v2 and it is a total overhaul, we reserve the right to make it eligible again.
  • Any attempt to game the system and falsely inflate your vote count will result in an immediate disqualification. We will be analyzing all votes and will contact mod teams if we detect suspicious activity.
  • Prize distribution will be controlled by Mod DB. All decisions in this regard are final.
  • All mod / indie games must have an active contact as the profile leader who updates their profile on a regular basis to be eligible.
  • Read on for the full legal terms.