A people’s choice award has been added to the Great Canadian Video Game Competition, following an announced partnership between organizers at Telefilm Canada and the Arcadia game festival in Montreal, which are calling on gamers to pick a favorite title.

Although it is not possible to play samples of the games, trailers and other material about the four finalists have been posted on the Arcadia site, www.playarcadia.com. Voters have until Sept. 21 to pick a favorite, which will be announced along with the winner of the juried, $500,000 grand prize at the Vancouver International Digital Festival, set for the following week. Organizers say the jury will not be aware of the people’s choice winner beforehand.

‘We truly believe that the video game industry needs to be recognized as much as the television and film industry,’ said Arcadia president François Décarie in a release. The Arcadia festival itself runs Nov. 9-11.

The four games are Swarm by Hothead Games, the handheld MindHabits Trainer from MindHabits, Ambush Trivia from Cerebral Vortex Games and Hobby Shop by Big Blue Bubble.