The Game Developers Choice Awards organised have announced this year’s recipients for its Lifetime Achievement and Pioneer Award categories.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Remedy’s creative director Sam Lake, with the Pioneer Award will be given to independent game designer Lucas Pope.
Lake has been working at the Finnish developer for over three decades, having been involved in writing, directing, and acting in Remedy’s franchises including Max Payne, Alan Wake, Quantum Break, and Control.
Last month, Lake received the Andrew Yoon Legend Award at the 14th Annual New York Game Awards.
Pope has been in the games industry for over two decades, and is the creative force behind experimental indie hits Paper’s, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn.
The designer also worked at Naughty Dog on projects including Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
“[Pope] has pushed the bar for gaming narratives and mechanics through his work,” the organisers said. “He has tried to make things that others don’t, exploring new genres and new ways of telling interesting stories.”
The Lifetime Achievement and Pioneer Awards were voted for by 2025’s Game Developers Choice Editorial Committee, with suggestions from the International Choice Awards Network.
“The GCD Awards has a proud legacy of shining the spotlight on figures who make gaming the most gripping and evocative method of storytelling,” said GDC event director Stephenie Hawkins.
“We’re excited to recognise Sam Lake and Lucas Pope for their commitments to pushing the boundaries of the medium through transcendent narrative structures, complex moral questions, and evocative gameplay.”
The awards ceremony will take place on March 19 during the Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
The finalists for the GDC Awards were announced last month, with Astro Bot and Black Myth: Wukong receiving the most nominations.