SimCity and
The Sims creator Will Wright has been made the first representative from the video games industry to be inducted into BAFTA’s Fellowship, with the accolade to be formally recognized at the forthcoming British Academy Video Games Awards 2007.
The BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Fellowship has previous been restricted to TV and film personalities such as Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin and Steven Spielberg, but Wright’s induction continues BAFTA’s policy of making video games part of its “third pillar” of visual arts.
Although famous for a range of
Sim branded titles, as well as the forthcoming
Spore from Electronic Arts, Wright is nowadays best known for
The Sims franchise, which has sold more than 90 million units since its inception in 2000.
Nominees for the British Academy Video Games Awards 2007, which will be televised in the UK, have
already been announced, with the winners to be unveiled at London’s Battersea Evolution on 23rd October.
Hilary Bevan Jones, chairman of the academy said “Will’s immense, creative body of work and his continued contribution to the industry make him a most worthy recipient of the Fellowship and being such a pioneer, we are thrilled that he will be the first person to receive this honor”.
