Spilprisen (English: The Game Awards) is an annual awards ceremony honoring achievements in the video game industry among games developed in Denmark. Established in 2013, Spilprisen seeks to celebrate the best Danish video games and spotlight the Danish game industry.[1] The awards were presented by the Danish Producers Association from Spilprisen's inception through 2024.
As of 2025, Spilprisen provides awards to video games in 10 different categories. A jury of professionals from the Danish gaming industry create the shortlist of nominees and then determine the winners. The Releases jury evaluates most of the awards, while a separate Live Game jury evaluates the award for Best Live Game. Some years involved a Technical jury for the evaluation of games' technical achievements. Starting in 2025, an audience award called Denmark's Favorite Game is also awarded. The award for Best Leap of Faith (formerly Best Emergent Experience) is given for innovation in video game design.
In addition to the game awards, starting in 2019, Spilprisen began providing awards to outstanding new individuals in the Danish video gaming industry in the Talents of the Year category. Individuals are not nominated for any specific area (like "designer" or "programmer") and can come from any facet of the video gaming industry, including development, production, and execution. Nominees for Talents of the Year must have been employed in the industry for no more than 2 years.
From 2013 to 2017, Spilprisen presented an award for the top student showcase of the year, highlighting students' graduation projects from Danish game development programs such as DADIU and the National Film School of Denmark.[3] Starting in 2018, the student showcase award was discontinued in favor of a "Best Debut", which was awarded to the year's most outstanding game from a new game studio.
Awards
2013
The 2013 awards celebrated games released in 2012. The awards ceremony was hosted during SpilBar 14 at AFUK in Copenhagen on April 18, 2013.[4]
For the first year's awards, all of the games produced by DADIU were nominated for the Student Showcase of the Year award.[5]
The 2014 awards celebrated games released in 2013. The awards ceremony was hosted at the Kayak Bar in Copenhagen on April 10, 2014, and it was hosted by Kristian Leth.[1]
The 2014 awards were unique in that after the jury selected the nominees, voting for the winner was opened to anyone in the Danish game industry. A total of 375 votes were collected through April 8, 2014.[1][6]
The 2018 awards celebrated games released in 2017. The awards ceremony was hosted at the Queen's Hall at the Royal Library in Copenhagen on April 17, 2018, and it was hosted by Sara Frost.[10]
The 2020 awards celebrated games released in 2019. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the awards ceremony was hosted virtually on April 10, 2014, and it was hosted by Jacob Ege Hinchely and Elias Eliot from the Han Duo podcast.[12]
The 2021 awards celebrated games released in 2020. For the second year in a row, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the awards ceremony was hosted virtually on April 28, 2014, on Twitch, and it was hosted by Jacob Ege Hinchely and Elias Eliot from the Han Duo podcast.[13]
The 2022 awards celebrated games released in 2021. The awards ceremony was hosted at the Bremen Theater in Copenhagen on April 26, 2022, and it was hosted by Marie Høst.[14][15]
The 2024 awards celebrated games released in 2023. The awards ceremony was hosted at the Bremen Theater in Copenhagen on April 30, 2024, and it was hosted by Marie Høst.
The 2025 awards celebrated games released in 2024. The submission period for games closed on January 6, 2025, and for talents on February 1, 2025. The awards ceremony was hosted at the Bella Center in Copenhagen on February 14, 2025.[16]
^Kjaer, Sebastian (December 10, 2024). "Danmarks største kulturerhverv fejrer sig selv ved Spi" [Denmark's largest cultural industry celebrates itself at the Game Awards 2025] (in Danish). TechSavvy Media. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
^Eskildsen, Lau Mellemgaard (February 14, 2025). "Spilprisen 2025: Her er vinderne!" [The Game Awards 2025: Here are the winners!] (in Danish). Arkaden. Retrieved March 11, 2025.