Geek Native has launched a dedicated RPG Publisher Spotlight Nomination page to make putting tabletop roleplaying game creators forward faster, cleaner, and completely confidential. The new setup arrives as voting on the current community ballot enters its final days, with the next featured studio interview scheduled to go live shortly.
The long-running RPG Publisher Spotlight series focuses on independent presses, solo game designers, and small studios creating standout tabletop games. While the selection process has historically drawn from a running editorial ledger and reader tips, the new nomination hub formalises the pipeline into a single, open intake.
How the Selection System Works
The Spotlight operates on a hybrid model that balances open access with editorial vetting and community voting:
- Anyone Can Nominate: Players, GMs, and readers can submit any active tabletop roleplaying game publisher at any time.
- Self-Nominations Are Encouraged: Indie designers and micro-presses are explicitly welcome to put themselves forward. Nobody tracks release pipelines or project milestones closer than the creators themselves.
- Confidential Submissions: Nominations remain strictly private. We never publish a list of publishers who were nominated but not shortlisted. We announce publicly only the finalists on the voting ballot and the eventual featured winner.
- Volume Does Not Dictate Selection: Rallying your community is welcome, and signals healthy interest, but raw submission counts do not guarantee a shortlist slot. Editorial triage ensures diverse representation across indie and established scenes rather than running an unmoderated popularity contest.
- Vetting and Cooldown Windows: Publishers must have active releases, human-led art standards, and reachable press contacts to clear triage. Studios that win a feature enter a 12-month hiatus before they can appear on a voting ballot again.
The Patreon Voting Academy
While nominations are free and open to everyone, voting on the final shortlist remains exclusive to Geek Native’s Patreon supporters.
This serves two purposes. First, it acts as an effective anti-spam barrier, preventing automated botting or organised ballot-stuffing from distorting the results. Second, it empowers the site’s financial backers to act as an independent jury panel, determining which studio earns the next deep-dive Q&A and site-wide feature.
If you are currently backing the site on Patreon, the voting poll for this round closes in just a few days.
Put a Publisher Forward
If there is an indie team, solo designer, or tabletop publisher whose books belong on more gaming tables, put them on the radar via the RPG Publisher Spotlight Nominations form. You can also browse previous winners and read past creator interviews on the RPG Publisher Spotlight archive.
