Hades, a visually stunning roguelike by Supergiant Games, is the very first video game to win a Hugo Award in its category. The writer and artistic director at Supergiant Games, Greg Kasavin, turned to Twitter to express his gratitude. As much as he was pleased to be acknowledged with other high-ranking nominees, he was unable to collect the honor in person.
First awarded in 1953, the Hugo Awards are given out annually to the greatest works of fantasy and science fiction throughout the world. In the years leading up to 2021, little thought was given to video games or their narratives, but that has all changed today.
The other titles nominated for the 2021 Games awards were Spiritfarer, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, The Last of Us Part II, Baseball, and Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
Kasavin said during his acceptance speech-
“We are incredibly honored to be the first-ever recipient of a Hugo award in the category of best video game,” “Video game storytelling has come a long way over the years and games are unique as a medium in that they are interactive, you can really inhabit one of these fantastical worlds,” said Kasavin during the acceptance video. “At Supergiant, we’ve tried to kind of marry the traditions of fantasy and science fiction literature with that unique interactive component.”
We’re so grateful that our work on Hades has stood out in that way and we hope that the Hugo Awards continue to recognize the amazing work being done in this space.”
After thanking his teammates at Supergiant Games and expressing gratitude for the recognition of his team’s efforts on Hades, Kasavin went on to express his gratitude to the Awards.
The World Science Fiction Convention presents the Hugo Awards each year to honor the best in fantasy and science fiction. This year’s ceremony was the first to feature a category for video games, following several disputes on whether such a genre should be added.
Additionally, the “Best Fancast” award, given to the best podcasts and video series dedicated to fantasy and science fiction and told through graphics, was added in 2012, and now joins the ranks of previous categories such as “Best Graphic Story” from 2009.
Even though the category has only been given out once thus far, Kasavin himself expressed his optimism that “Hugo will acknowledge the tremendous job being performed in this domain.” With this honor, Hades was also nominated for other prizes throughout the industry, including the D.I.C.E Awards 2021 and BAFTA awards, as well as the Golden Joysticks’ “Critic’s Choice” award.
After winning “Best Indie Games” and “Best Action,” Hades was nominated for Game of the Year at the 2020 Game Awards.
Wish I could have attended the #HugoAwards in person. I wasn't able to make an acceptance speech there on behalf of the team though did have a few words here. I'm grateful that the awards are recognizing work in this category, much less the work we did! pic.twitter.com/S9bfSp1i8H
— Greg Kasavin (@kasavin) December 19, 2021
Hades is now available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Pc, and Nintendo Switch.