Hades has won an award usually reserved for literary works. The Hugo Awards don't have a bespoke gaming category, but one was created this year especially to recognize exceptional games. Other nominees included Spiritfarer and Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Why has Hades won a Hugo Award?
The Hugo Awards usually recognize works of science fiction and fantasy, but this year, a gaming category was introduced. According to Hugo Awards co-chair Colette Fozard, the gaming award was introduced to recognize games that were "meaningful, joyful, and exceptional" over a year during which many people were gaming more than usual. While there isn't a permanent gaming award just yet, the committee is apparently "considering Best Game or Interactive Experience as a potential permanent category". Exciting news for anyone who wants to see gaming achievements get the official recognition they deserve. Hades beat out fellow nominees Spiritfarer, The Last of Us Part II, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Blaseball.
Supergiant's Greg Kasavin acknowledged the award via Twitter. In his tweet, Kasavin said he wished he could attend the awards ceremony in person and that he's "grateful" the Hugo Awards are recognizing gaming as a legitimate art form. Kasavin goes on to say that narrative design has "come a long way" in gaming, and that storytelling has become more complex as time has progressed. He's not wrong; there's a good reason we gave Hades our 2020 TechRaptor Game of the Year award. If you want to know what we're giving the award to in 2021, then you don't have long to wait; we'll be announcing this year's GOTY this week.
A banner year for Hades
Hades was originally released in September last year. It was met with immediate critical acclaim, winning Best Action Game and Best Indie Game at the 2020 Game Awards, along with a host of other accolades. It was subsequently added to the Xbox Game Pass lineup back in August this year, where it's still available to check out if you're a subscriber. Obviously, we heartily recommend you do so, as it's a brilliant combination of gameplay and narrative design.
We'll have to wait and see if the Hugo Awards make good on the promise to introduce a permanent gaming category. In the meantime, if you're still yet to go way down to Hades town, you can check the game out via Steam and the Epic Games Store on PC. It's also available on Xbox Game Pass (and also as a standard purchase on Xbox platforms), and you'll also find it on PlayStation consoles and Nintendo Switch. Make sure to give it a look if you haven't already because it's pretty special.
Are you as unsurprised as we are that Hades won the first gaming Hugo Award? Let us know in the comments below!
