The man behind Minecraft can add another “notch” to his list of accolades.
The Game Developers Choice Awards, which give out peer-voted honors during the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco each year, revealed that Minecraft creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson will receive the Pioneer Award. Persson’s Minecraft has become one of the popular games in recent history and has sold over 70 million copies. It’s available on just about every platform imaginable, expanded into physical media with Lego sets, and introduced a generation of children to the idea of user-generated content in gaming. Persson sold Minecraft and his company, Mojang, to Microsoft for $2.5 billion in 2014. Previous Pioneer Award winners include Valve boss Gabe Newell and Missle Command creator Dave Theurer.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1875929,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,games,","session":"B"}']Notch isn’t the only one receiving an honor. Tracy Fullerton, experimental game designer and educator, will receive the Ambassador Reward for her help in advancing gaming with noteworthy games like Flow and Darfur is Dying. She is the associate professor chair of the interactive media and games division at the University of Southern California. Previous Ambassador Award recipients include critic and feminist writer Anita Sarkeesian and Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik, and Robert Khoo from the webcomic Penny Arcade.
The event takes place on Wednesday, March 16th at 6:30 p.m. Pacific. You’ll be able to watch awards live on Twitch.
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