Author: New York Videogame Critics Circle

NEW YORK (Jan. 25, 2022) — There are giants among us! The New York Videogame Critics Circle (NYVGCC) today revealed Tim Schafer, founder and game designer at Double Fine Productions, as this year’s Andrew Yoon Legend Award recipient. Known for such games as Grim Fandango, Brütal Legend and both Psychonauts 1 and 2, Schafer is being honored for his phenomenal contributions to the video game industry. The award will be presented during this year’s New York Game Awards, which can be viewed on Feb. 1, 2022, at 8:00 p.m. ET on Twitch.TV/NYVGCC, along with a short documentary where Schafer’s impact will be discussed by Circle members and top industry luminaries.


“Tim Schafer is a master craftsman of language and animation,” said Harold Goldberg, president and founder, NYVGCC. “Starting with his formative years at LucasArts, where he supplied the killer dialog in The Secret of Monkey Island, he has consistently honed his humor and satire to make great games. Who else draws from Charles Dickens and Kurt Vonnegut for character names? His skill and craft shine through an incredible body of work, and we are honored to present him with the Andrew Yoon Legend Award.”


With over 30 years in the game industry, Tim Schafer is currently the Studio Head of Double Fine Productions, a San Francisco-based video game developer that is part of Xbox Game Studios, and maker of many critically acclaimed games including Psychonauts, Brütal Legend, Costume Quest, RAD and Headlander. Tim also launched the record-breaking, multi-millon dollar Kickstarter project, Double Fine Adventure (aka Broken Age), which inspired a new era of crowd-funded indie titles. Prior to Double Fine, Tim was a Project Leader at LucasArts Entertainment Company, where he was responsible for several classic PC adventure games, including Grim Fandango and Full Throttle. Tim also co-designed Day of the Tentacle, and served as a writer and assistant designer on The Secret of Monkey Island 1 and 2.


The Andrew Yoon Legend Award is presented by the New York Videogame Critics Circle to recognize people and organizations that have exhibited a significant, sustained body of work that shows exceptional artistic achievement and innovation. The award is named for Andrew Yoon, a founding member of the New York Game Critics Circle. Past recipients of the award include Reggie Fils-Aimé, Jerry Lawson, Jade Raymond, Richard Garriott, Todd Howard, Rockstar Games, Ralph Baer and Hideo Kojima.


The 11th annual New York Game Awards will be virtual-only, and viewable on Twitch and YouTube. The pre-show will start at 7:30 p.m. ET, and the Awards show starts at 8 p.m. ET. While tickets are no longer on sale, interested supporters can donate to the NYVGCC to help fund ongoing programs for 2022. Ten $40 tickets cover the cost of having four articles written by NYVGCC student interns. Additional donation information is also available at this link.


The NYVGCC, a nonprofit dedicated to the awareness of, and education for, video games, writing and journalism in the New York City area, hosts the annual award program to celebrate the industry creators and artistic contributions from the past year, as well as the underserved and homeless students that NYVGCC mentors, and the NYVGCC scholarship programs.


For more information on NYVGCC programs, as well as the New York Game Awards, please check out https://nygamecritics.com/ 

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About New York Videogame Critics Circle
Based in Manhattan, the New York Videogame Critics Circle is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit multicultural organization comprised of 40 of the finest videogame critics, writers, reporters and bloggers in the nation. Members of the NYVGCC give back to their communities by providing scholarships, mentoring and community outreach to NYC schools students. The New York Videogame Critics Circle sees great benefit in advocating for those who are less fortunate.


NYVGCC offers opportunities beyond just the technical side of gaming to the larger creative impact of gaming careers that involve STEAM (STEM education and the arts). This is done by providing local and nationwide scholarships, mentoring, paid internships and community outreach to underserved NYC schools students, through partnerships with organizations and companies such as Rockstar Games, the DOE (NYC Department of Education), DreamYard Project, and the Bronxwork network of homeless residences. The non-profit collective was recently recognized by the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment for their positive charitable impacts with city youth, and will be further recognized for their efforts during the virtual awards show. Read more about the NYVGCC’s work here.
  
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For more information:
Mabel Chung
Zebra Partners on behalf of NYVGCC
[email protected]