The Academy membership votes once a year in February after the peer panels have narrowed down the nominated titles to a maximum of six finalists per category.
Active Creative/Technical members are qualified to vote in craft categories associated with their expertise, in all genre categories and in Game of the Year and Innovation categories.
Associate, Active Business and At-Large members are only qualified to vote for:
The Academy believes strongly that to maintain the credibility of the awards, genre, craft and innovation categories should only be voted on by those who take an active, creative role in making games.
The Academy sends each Active Creative/Technical member a password and link to the voting website.
When logging on to the website, these members will be asked pick a field which best describes their expertise. Their choice will determine the craft categories in which they will be allowed The five crafts are:
During voting in the craft categories, these members will be presented with the finalists in each category and will be required to pick one as their top choice. Once they are finished voting in the craft categories, Active Creative/Technical members will taken to the genre categories. These members can vote in ALL genre categories.
In each genre they will be presented with the finalist choices. Members must choose one game as their top choice.
Finally, Active Creative/Technical members will be presented with five finalists in the following categories:
The finalists in these categories are picked by a vote of all peer panelists (see peer panel section of this document). Members must pick one game from each category as their top choice.
One week before the elections, the Academy sends each Associate, Active Business or At-Large member a password and link to the voting website. When these members log on, they will allowed to vote for one of five finalists in each of the following categories:
Ties
In the event that two games tie for any award, two statuettes will be awarded.