New York Videogame Critics Circle's Annual Legend Award Won't Go to a Person This Year; It's Going to Pokémon

The New York Videogame Critics Circle has unveiled the victor of its yearly Andrew Yoon Legend Award up of the New York Game Awards successful January. And dissimilar past years, it's not going to an idiosyncratic luminary from the video crippled industry. It's going to...the Pokémon franchise.

This is simply a archetypal successful the award's ten-year history, with past winners including Sam Lake, Neil Druckmann, Phil Spencer, Tim Schafer, and Reggie Fils-Aimé. That's not to accidental the grant hasn't been flexible successful its explanation before, though. In its archetypal year, 2016, the grant was fixed to a studio: Rockstar Games. And successful 2021, the grant was fixed to 4 people: Jerry Lawson, Hideo Kojima, Brenda Romero, and John Romeo.

But it's inactive antithetic to spot the Legend grant spell to a franchise. On its website and successful past years, the NYVGCC has described the grant arsenic going to "a crippled changer successful the video games industry" and "those who person propelled the gaming satellite forward, celebrating their profound interaction connected an manufacture that continues to captivate and link radical worldwide." This year, the property merchandise describes the award's intent arsenic to "recognize manufacture icons and organizations that exhibited a significant, sustained assemblage of enactment demonstrating exceptional creator accomplishment and innovation."

Per the NYVGCC, Pokémon was chosen arsenic "an iconic staple of planetary fashionable culture, breaking done to video crippled and mainstream audiences successful the mid-to-late 90s with a unsocial operation of collectibility, beardown and approachable RPG gameplay and unparalleled quality design." The merchandise cites its $12 cardinal successful planetary retail income successful 2024, implicit 489 cardinal crippled copies sold since 1996, and the information that it's 1 of the highest-grossing media franchises. We gave the astir caller Pokemon game, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, an 8/10, saying it "finally feels similar Game Freak hitting its stride successful Pokémon's 3D era, with a amusive mounting to explore, a well-written story, and a full conflict strategy overhaul that works amazingly well."

“How bash you articulate the interaction of a taste improvement similar Pokémon? ‘Legend’ is the lone connection that comes to mind,” said Harold Goldberg, the president and laminitis of NYVGCC. “For 30 years, the franchise has grown to go the astir recognizable crippled bid successful the satellite and is beloved for its unsocial monster designs that person compelled players young and aged to drawback ‘em all. It is simply a tremendous grant to contiguous the institution with the Andrew Yoon Legend Award astatine our 15th solemnisation of the New York Game Awards.”

The grant volition beryllium accepted by The Pokémon Company astatine the awards ceremonial connected January 18, and The Pokémon Company volition beryllium successful attendance with "two fan-favorite Pokémon" characters disposable for instrumentality photograph opportunities.

IGN reached retired to NYVGCC for remark connected the determination to grant a franchise this twelvemonth and received the pursuing authoritative statement:

"The Pokémon Company’s Legend Award heralds the 2nd clip the New York Game Awards has decided to grant an wide squad implicit a azygous idiosyncratic creator. The archetypal was Rockstar Games successful 2016. With their power crossed entertainment, console and tabletop gaming for 30 years, we felt that the galore radical who enactment with The Pokémon Company merit to stock the prestigious Andrew Yoon Legend Award for our 15th anniversary."

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].