Nominations Now Open for 2025 Toy & Game Innovation Excellence Awards
June 5, 2025 | Chicago, IL – Nominations are now open for the 2025 Toy & Game Innovation Excellence (TAGIE) Awards, presented by the People of Play™. Taking place on November 8 as part of POP Week, this year’s event marks the TAGIEs’ 18th year honoring the best and brightest innovators, designers, retailers, suppliers, PR professionals, and marketers who drive creativity and success across the global toy and game industry.
New for 2025, this year’s TAGIEs will feature more award categories and fewer nominees per category (7) to spotlight more industry innovators while also increasing the odds for nominates to take home a win.
Anyone in the industry may submit a nomination by August 2, 2025. There is no fee to nominate a candidate for consideration. Here are this year’s categories:
- Preschool Toy Innovator of the Year
- Kidult Toy Innovator of the Year
- Preschool Game Innovator of the Year
- Adult/Family Game Innovator of the Year
- Tech Toy Innovator of the Year
- Tech Game Innovator of the Year
- Breakout Innovator of the Year
- Young Innovator of the Year
- Innovative Art and Visuals of the Year
- Innovative PR & Marketing Team of the Year
- Most Innovative Retailer Award
- Most Innovative Vendor & Partner
- Most Innovative Licensed Product
Game Changers – Innovation Heroes
This year, the TAGIE Game Changer category will honor the innovative heroes of our industry — the people that innovate our industry yet are seldom publicly recognized.
“The TAGIEs unite the global toy and game community for a star-studded evening of celebrating the bold, innovative minds and trailblazing individuals and teams that shape our industry—the extraordinary People of Play,” said Karri Bean, senior global licensing manager, Disney Consumer Products, and host of the TAGIE Awards.
Finalists will be notified in early September, at which time voting will open to the general public, media, and industry. The Game Changer and Lifetime Achievement awards are selected exclusively by the TAGIE Awards Committee and the Lifetime Achievement Committee. (Nominations for the Lifetime Achievement award are open through June 30.) The TAGIE Awards Committee also creates the “In Memoriam” presentation and selects the recipient of the Hassenfeld Humanitarian Award.
The TAGIEs is one of several events that takes place during People of Play’s annual POP Week — taking place November 5 to 9 in Rosemont, IL — including the Inventor Pitch & Innovation Conference, Young Inventor Challenge, and Chicago Toy & Game Fair.
Click here for more information about the TAGIE Awards. Photos from the 2024 TAGIE Awards are available here.
About the TAGIE Awards chitag.com/2025-tagie-awards
Founded in 2008, the Toy & Game Innovation Excellence Awards (TAGIEs) celebrate the outstanding achievements of toy and game industry leaders from around the world, by honoring masters of innovation. The annual event also pays homage to industry professionals who differentiate themselves with their spirit for fun, philanthropy, inventor advocacy, creativity, and humanitarianism. Inventors, designers, manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, media, public relations and marketing professionals, and the general public come together for this prestigious annual gala event. The TAGIEs are hosted in the fall in conjunction with the Toy & Game Inventor Pitch and Innovation Conference, Chicago Toy & Game Fair, PlayCHIC, and the Young Inventor Challenge.
About People of Play™ peopleofplay.com
People of Play (POP), a division of The Toy Association™, leads the global toy and game industry in promoting innovation, creativity, and connectivity. A one-stop source of community for industry professionals, aspiring inventors, and people of all ages who love to play, People of Play hosts a play platform packed with resources and connection points as well as a wide range of events including the Chicago Toy & Game (CHITAG) Fair, the Toy & Game International Excellence (TAGIEs) Awards, the Young Inventor Challenge, the Toy & Game Inventor Pitch and Innovation Conference, and more.
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