WGA removes video game writing category from 2020 awards

The Writers Guild of America has removed the video game category from its 2020 awards, and potentially future events as well due to a lack of titles that qualify for consideration, though the guild is open to bringing it back if certain conditions are met.

In a statement sent to Gamasutra, a WGA representative noted that the Videogame Writing Award will “be reinstated when there is a critical mass of video games covered by the WGA in order to provide a meaningful award selection process.”

Previously, submitting a game script for award consideration required a game to meet certain crediting requirements, as well as for the credited writers on the game to be members of the WGA’s Videogame Writers Caucus, or at least apply for the caucus at the time of submission. That application itself has a handful of requirements a writer must meet in order to qualifiy, and requires a payment of a $100 “membership service fee."

In short, it seems like the pool of games that would then qualify for the WGA’s Videogame Writing Award fell below what the organization considers a competitive or meaningful threshold. 

The award itself was first added in 2008 and saw Vicious Cycle Software’s PSP game Dead Head Fred as its first recipient. Since, titles like Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, The Last of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, and several Uncharted and Assassin’s Creed games have claimed the Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing award, as well the award's now final recipient, Sony Santa Monica's God of War.