The Italian Video Game Awards 2026 celebrate the best of the Italian gaming industry.

Florence, June 12, 2026 – The Italian Video Game Awards 2026ceremony, promoted by IIDEA (Italian Interactive Digital Entertainment Association), concluded.
The event was held at the Cinema La Compagnia in Florence as part of the eighth edition of First Playable, the main business fair for the Italian video game sector.

The evening, hosted by Giordana Moroni and Pierpaolo Greco of Multiplayer.it, was broadcast live on Twitch and made available on demand on YouTube (you can find the full video at the bottom of the article).

The Winners

The most prestigious award, Best Italian Game, was won by The Lonesome Guild of Tiny Bull Studios (Turin), which also triumphed in the Community Spotlight Award.

• Best Italian Game – The Lonesome Guild (Tiny Bull Studios)

• Best Italian Debut Game – Dino Path Trail (Void Pointer)

• Outstanding Art – Bye Sweet Carole (Little Sewing Machine)

• Outstanding Experience – HORSES (Andrea Lucco Borlera / Holy Reason)

• Outstanding Audio – Bye Sweet Carole (Little Sewing Machine)

• Community Spotlight Award – The Lonesome Guild (Tiny Bull Studios)

The awards were assigned by an international jury composed of Stefania Sperandio, Simone Silvestri (Housemarque), Ariel Pai (PQube) and Lorenzo Mancosu (Multiplayer.it / VGP Play), integrated by the vote of the studios associated with IIDEA.

A few words about the winning games

The Lonesome Guild (Tiny Bull Studios)

A single-player top-down action-RPG all about the themes of friendship and connection.
You play as Ghost, a spirit with no memory, who gathers a motley crew of heroes to fight the loneliness plaguing the world of Aether.
The game allows you to seamlessly switch between characters in exploration and combat, solving cooperative puzzles and creating deadly combos. Released in 2025, it was published by DON'T NOD and received rave reviews for its touching narrative, dynamic combat system, and colorful, hand-drawn art style.

Dino Path Trail (Void Pointer)

Winner of the Best Debut Award, it is a 3D isometric roguelike survival shooter set in a Wild West populated by dinosaurs.
The player plays Lucy in search of her kidnapped twin sister, exploring procedural maps, managing resources (hunger, thirst, temperature), crafting and fighting against increasingly dangerous enemies.
A compelling mix of exploration, survival and action released in 2025.

Bye Sweet Carole (Little Sewing Machine)

Double winner for Outstanding Art and Outstanding Audio.
This is a hand-drawn horror adventure with strong cinematic influences.
Tells a touching yet disturbing story, searching for the truth about Carole's fate.
Released in October 2025, it impressed with its unique art style and high-quality soundtrack.

HORSES (Andrea Lucco Borlera with Santa Ragione)

Winner of Outstanding Experience.
An experimental, surreal narrative horror adventure with live-action sequences.
The game, released in December 2025, generated great discussion for its provocative themes and strong authorial vision, despite having encountered controversy related to bans on some platforms.
It represents an extreme example of Italian independent creativity.

A growing sector

The ceremony also hosted interviews with developers of highly anticipated titles such as The Alighieri Circle: Dante's Bloodline (One-O-One Games), Remothered: Red Nun's Legacy (Stormind Games) and Wonderful Neoran Valley (Nara Studio).

The Italian Video Game Awards represent an important moment to valorize Italian creative talent and foster international connections.

For more information visit the official website of First Playable

Below is the full video of the event: