Activision's Independent Games Competition winners announced

Activision's Independent Games Competition winners have been announced, with developer Christopher Hui walking away with a first prize of $175,000 for Iron Dragon - an "action flight adventure" for touch-screen devices.

Multiplayer action title Planet Smashers by Michael Stanton bagged the second prize earning a cool $75,000. The game was made using an original engine.

The games were selected by a jury of IndieCade members, and both the developers will retain full IP rights to their games.

However, Activision has an exclusive 30 day "right of first negotiation" agreement with the winners, where the publisher will get a first chance at working out a deal with the makers. If both parties can't sign a deal at the end of that period, the developer can then pitch their game to other publishers.

"While the games themselves varied, the unifying theme for everyone involved in the competition has been passion," said Activision's Vice President of External Development Dan Winters.

"We want to thank the talented developers who submitted their work and our partners at IndieCade. The energy and enthusiasm of the indie community continues to inspire us and we're thrilled to help make their dreams become reality."

This is the second year that Activision held this event for, with last year's Angstadt's RTS Dstroyd and Engient's mech action game Rigonauts: Broadside winning first and second prizes respectively.