The Game Awards founder and veteran games journalist Geoff Keighley announced today that Hideo Kojima will be awarded the Industry Icon Award at this year’s show. The Industry Icon Award is the show’s most prestigious award, and is given out to celebrate the contributions that a game maker has made to the industry. Previous winners include Ken and Roberta Williams from Sierra Entertainment and Bretty Sperry & Louise Castle from Westwood Studios.
Here’s the announcement post that Geoff Keighley posted on his official Twitter account:
He finally gets his trophy! @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN to receive Industry Icon Award live at @thegameawards 2016 on Dec 1. https://t.co/JhGKOCSGza pic.twitter.com/RHXNbyp9Py
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) November 17, 2016
Keighley went on to state that it was important to him to give Hideo Kojima the “stage moment he was robbed of last year.” This is in reference to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain winning the award for Best Action/Adventure game in 2015. Kojima was supposed to accept the award in person, but was unable to do so due to being in the process of a messy departure with the game’s publisher, Konami. Actor Kiefer Sutherland, who played Punished Snake in the game, accepted the award on Kojima’s behalf.
This led Keighley to give a passionate speech about the matter during the show. “Hideo Kojima is not here with us tonight and I want to tell you a little about that,” revealed Keighley at last year’s event. “Mr. Kojima had every intention of being with us tonight, but unfortunately he was informed by a lawyer representing Konami just recently that he would not be allowed to travel to tonight’s awards ceremony to accept any awards. He’s still under an employment contract. And it’s disappointing and it’s inconceivable to me that an artist like Hideo would not be allowed to come here and celebrate with his peers and his fellow teammates.”
Thankfully, Kojima will finally get the moment he deserves at this year’s show. The Game Awards 2016 takes place December 1, 2016.
(Source: Geoff Keighley)
