The stylish roguelike from Supergiant Games Hades has made history in being the first video game to ever be awarded a Hugo Award. Writer and Creative Director at Supergiant Games, Greg Kasavin took to Twitter to provide his thanks for receiving such a historic honor. While he was unable to accept the award in person, he was grateful for being recognized amongst a group of other notable nominees.
The other games nominated by the Hugo Awards this year were: Spiritfarer, The Last of Us Part II, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Blaseball. "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." He goes on to voice how grateful he is for his colleagues at Supergiant Games and to thank the Awards for recognizing the team's work on Hades.
The Hugo Awards are an annual series of awards that recognizes outstanding works in science fiction and fantasy at the World Science Fiction Convention. This year's event was the first to ever include a category representing video games, which was a decision that follows multiple discussions if such a category should be included. It joins other categories that have been added over the years including "Best Graphic Story" in 2009, an award for the best science fiction or fantasy story told in graphic form, and 2012's "Best Fancast," an award honoring great sci-fi and fantasy-focused podcasts and video series.
As of now, this category is a one-off award, however, Kasavin himself said that he "hopes the Hugo Awards continue to recognize the amazing work being done in this space." Along with this award, Hades was also nominated for multiple awards across the industry, including winning "Game of the Year" at the D.I.C.E Awards 2021 and BAFTA Awards 2021 as well as "Critic's Choice" at the Golden Joysticks. Hades was also nominated for "Game of the Year" at the Game Awards 2020, where it won "Best Indie Games" and "Best Action Game" Awards. Hades is currently available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Kasavin's tweet accepting the historic Hugo Award for Hades can be seen down below: