Hades, developed by Supergiant Games and originally released in 2020, has become the first-ever video game to win a Hugo Award.
The Hugo Awards are an annual recognition of the best literary works of science fiction and fantasy. The list for 2021 nominees and winners indicates that a one-time special category was created for video games. Hades beat out Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Spiritfarer, Final Fantasy VII Remake, The Last of Us: Part II, and Blaseball.
Greg Kasavin, Creative Director for Supergiant Games and a writer on Hades, accepted the award video via a short video.
“We are incredibly honored to be the first-ever recipient of a Hugo award in the category of best video game,” Kasavin said. “We, myself included, grew up experiencing these classic works of science fiction and fantasy, from Ursula K. Le Guin to Philip K. Dick, what have you. That’s when we first came across the Hugo Awards name, of course, as kids.”
“To have earned this distinction all this time later, especially alongside such an incredible slate of nominees, games of all shapes and sizes, from teams big and small, it really means the world. Video game storytelling has come a long way over the years, and games are really unique as a medium in that they’re interactive and you can really inhabit one of these fantastical worlds and see as it reacts to your every move.”
“At Supergiant, we’ve tried to marry the traditions of fantasy and science fiction and literature with that unique interactive component and create these worlds that feel as though they are alive as you navigate through them. 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.”
Hades has made a few of our “best of” lists recently. Here they are:
- TOP 20 BEST ISOMETRIC RPGS OF ALL TIME
- 10 GREAT GAMES THAT AREN’T A SEQUEL
- 12 BEST ROGUELIKES FOR BEGINNERS
