Playstation, Niantic, and Unity Technologies Employee Resource Groups Collaborate to Honor Recipients
LOS ANGELES – 10 Sept 2020 – The Black In Gaming Awards honors the outstanding achievements and contributions to video games by black game developers and corporate allies. This year’s show digitally presents the fourth annual ceremony on 12 Sept at 7:15 p.m. (PT) simulcasted as a part of PAX Online and on the Black in Gaming Twitch channel.
Created by a Special Interest Group of the International Game Developers Association called Black In Gaming (BIG), also supported by the IGDA Foundation (IGDA-F), the BIG Awards are sponsored by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Unity Technologies, and Niantic Inc.
This year’s winners include leaders forging new paths for games and shaping strategy on a global stage, like Champion Award recipient Sarah Bond, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Global Gaming Partnerships and Development at Xbox. The Image Award will go to Shana Bryant for her 14-year career as a successful producer at Capcom, Midway Games, and Electronic Arts.
The luminaries list continues with Chris Judge, the iconic voice of Kratos in 2018’s best selling PlayStation 4 exclusive God of War, receiving the award for Excellence in Performance. Beloved former president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, Reginald Fils-Aimé, will receive the BIG Awards’ Legacy Award.
Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Mike Pondsmith, founder and CEO of R. Talsorian Games, has written for several RPG lines including Mekton, Cyberpunk, and Castle Falkenstein.
Full List of Award Recipients
- Reginald Fils-Aimé – Legacy Award
- Mike Pondsmith – Jerry Lawson Lifetime Achievement Award
- Sarah Bond – Champion Award
- Shana Bryant – Image Award
- Chris Judge – Excellence in Performance
- Erlson Neba – Excellence in Artistry
- Raymond Graham – Excellence in Programming
- Marcus Montgomery – Excellence in Product & Design
- Kiro’o Games for Aurion Legacy of the Kori-Odan – Indie Developer Award
- Keisha Howard – Industry Spotlight Award
- Kahlief Adams – Excellence in Media
- Kimberly Bryant – Education Award
Kahlief Adams of Spawn on Me, an award-winning podcast spotlighting news in the gaming industry, and Trinidad Hermida will host this year’s event. The show is executive produced by Laura Teclemariam and J.Patton. Each notable industry professional will be honored for their industry-changing achievements with a custom plaque featuring the Fairchild Channel F System as a commemoration to inventor Jerry Lawson.
“This industry is home to so many talented professionals. We’re honored to recognize the leaders and mentors who continue to build on long histories of making a difference in the gaming industry,” said Black in Gaming Executive Director Carl Varnado. “Shining the spotlight on their achievements, hard work, and endless creativity is our way of honoring these outstanding contributors to the gaming industry.”
For more information, check out the Black In Gaming website. Visit @BlackInGaming on Twitter and the Black In Gaming Facebook page for the latest news developments and updates.
About Black In Gaming
Black in Gaming (BIG) is an International Game Developer Association Special Interest Group (SIG), which aims to cultivate a community of diverse professionals in the video game industry who come together for networking, fellowship, professional development, education, and celebration. Black in Gaming (BIG) seeks to create a standard normalization of black cultural identification through the increase from 2% to 5% of the black community in the game industry through education, outreach, representation, and entrepreneurial initiatives over the next 5 years. #BIG5IN5. To find out more about Black in Gaming, visit www.blackingaming.com.
About IGDA Foundation
The IGDA Foundation (IGDA-F) advances a diverse workforce and ecosystem for the video game industry to better reflect the millions of passionate players enjoying video games worldwide.
The IGDA-F focuses on promoting a game development community representative of and welcoming and inclusive to, every person who wants to make games. The IGDA-F garners support for diversity and inclusion in the video game industry with initiatives such as its IGDA Scholars, Velocity, and Next Gen Leaders programs, with others in the pipeline.
The IGDA Foundation is a public charity, registered as a 501(c)3 organization in the United States.
To find out more about the IGDA Foundation’s initiatives visit http://igdafoundation.org.
