A Bond-Style Rating System for Game Projects
GPCS brings the clarity of financial ratings to game development — transparent, structural, and voluntary. Know the capacity behind every project.
GPC Capacity Rating
Partial Independence
gpcstandard.org • Unverified self-assessment
Seven Capacity Tiers
From solo passion project to global powerhouse
Hover a tier to see the descriptor. Team sizes shown are per-project dedicated staff, not total headcount.
C
B
BB
BBB
A
AA
AAA
Ratings reflect production capacity and resource backing — not quality, artistic merit, or commercial potential.
The Problem
Current labels are broken
The game industry relies on informal terms that conflate budget, team size, funding source, creative independence, and distribution into a single vague word.
"Indie" means everything
A solo developer and a 40-person studio with publisher funding are both called "indie" — creating unfair competition in awards, showcases, and grant programmes.
Awards pit mismatched studios
Categories designed for small teams are regularly dominated by well-funded projects. The Megabonk incident at Game Awards 2025 highlighted the broken system.
Grants lack verifiable criteria
Grant programmes struggle to define "independent" or "early-stage" in ways that are consistent, transparent, and resistant to gaming.
The Framework
Source-based. Transparent. Voluntary.
Answer 15 questions
Tell us about your studio, publisher, IP ownership, and other funding sources. Takes about 10 minutes.
Algorithm weighs sources
Studio (55%), Publisher (35%), and Other sources (10%) are scored and combined with floor/ceiling constraints.
Receive your GPC rating
A code like "A/I1 — Unverified — v0.5" tells the full story: capacity, independence, evidence level.
What GPCS does measure
- ✓Production capacity — team size, infrastructure, track record
- ✓Resource backing — who funds it and to what scale
- ✓Creative independence — who owns IP and controls creative direction
- ✓Verification level — from self-reported to third-party audited
What GPCS does not measure
- ✕Quality or artistic merit — C-rated games can win Game of the Year
- ✕Commercial potential — ratings don't predict sales or player reception
- ✕Genre scope — walking simulator and open-world RPG can share a tier
- ✕Cultural identity — C-rated can be commercial; AAA-rated can be artistic
Who Is This For
Built for the institutions that shape the industry
Awards Bodies
Replace vague "indie" categories with capacity-tiered competition: Best C/B, Best BB/BBB, Best A and above.
Grant Programmes
Define clear eligibility: "C/B/BB studios only" or "Ineligible: A+ publisher backing." Transparent and auditable.
Platforms & Publishers
Segment incoming projects for differentiated support tiers. Identify punch-above-weight teams and growth-stage studios.
Ready to rate your project?
The demo form takes about 10 minutes. Your result is an Unverified self-assessment — the first step toward a formally recognised GPC rating.
Start RatingFree, anonymous, no account required. Takes ~10 minutes.