Chalk up another award for Supergiant Games’ Hades. This time, it’s a first for video games, as the roguelike earned the first-ever Hugo Award for Best Video Game, beating out the likes of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Blaseball, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, The Last of Us Part 2, and Spiritfarer.
This Hugo adds more hardware to Supergiant Games’ shelf, having previously earned the GDC Game of the Year for Hades, along with The Game Award for Best Indie Title in 2020, and BAFTAs for Best Game, Artistic Achievement, Game Design, Narrative, and Performer in a Supporting Role (Logan Cunningham).
Supergiant Games’ writer and director Greg Kasavin posted his acceptance speech on Twitter, saying that the team is “incredibly honoured” to be the first video game to receive a Hugo.
Beginning in 1953, the Hugo Awards recognize the best literary works of science fiction and fantasy, though the obviously the categories have evolved over the years. This year’s awards were presented at the 79th Worldcon, “Discon III”, in Washington, D.C.. Though the Best Video Game award was considered to be a one-off, Kasavin hopes that the Hugos continue the category for the years to come.
In Hades, players take on the role of Zagreus, the prince of the Underworld, who is trying to escape and reach Mount Olympus. Zegreus’ is supported in his quest by the other Olympians, who grant him gifts to help fight the Underworld denizens that protect the exit from the realm.
Hades is available now on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, as well as the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.
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