Nebula Award for Best Game Writing

American science fiction game award

Nebula Award for Best Game Writing

Awarded for| The best science fiction or fantasy game writing published in the prior calendar year
Country| United States
Presented by| Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association
First award| 2019
Most recent winner| Adam Smith et al. for Baldur's Gate 3
Website| sfwa.org/nebula-awards/

The Nebula Award for Best Game Writing is one of the Nebula Awards, presented each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy game writing. The Nebula Awards have been described as one of "the most important of the American science fiction awards" and "the science-fiction and fantasy equivalent" of the Emmy Awards.[1][2] The Game Writing category is the newest category of the Nebulas, which were originally awarded in 1966 solely for printed fiction. The Nebula Award for Best Game Writing has been awarded annually since 2019.[3] The drive to create the Game Writing category was promoted by then SFWA president Cat Rambo after game writers were made eligible for SFWA membership in 2016. According to a statement by SFWA when the category was announced in 2018, it was added to reflect how changes in technology had expanded the media used for science fiction and fantasy storytelling.[4]

To be eligible for Nebula Award consideration, a work must be published in English in the United States. Works published in English elsewhere in the world are also eligible provided they are released on either a website or in an electronic edition. A game is considered by the organization to be "an interactive or playable story-driven work which conveys narrative, character, or story background". Works in this category have no set word count and must have at least one credited writer.[3]

Nebula Award nominees and winners are chosen by members of the SFWA, though the game writers do not need to be members. Works are nominated each year by members in a period around December 15 through January 31, and the six works that receive the most nominations then form the final ballot, with additional nominees possible in the case of ties. Soon after, members are given a month to vote on the ballot, and the final results are presented at the Nebula Awards ceremony in May. Writers are not permitted to nominate their own works, and ties in the final vote are broken, if possible, by the number of nominations the works received.[3]

During the 7 nomination years, 41 games by 121 writers have been nominated. These have primarily been video games, but also include eight books for role-playing game systems and an interactive film. The first year's award was won by Charlie Brooker for the interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch; the second year's award was won by a team of nine writers led by Leonard Boyarsky for the video game The Outer Worlds; the third year's award was won by Greg Kasavin for the video game Hades; the fourth year's award by a team of six writers for the role-playing game Thirsty Sword Lesbians; the fifth year's award by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin for the video game Elden Ring; and the sixth year by a team of 16 writers led by Adam Smith for the video game Baldur's Gate 3. Eleven writers have been nominated more than once, with Kate Heartfield, and Natalia Theodoridou having three nominations each. Interactive fiction developer Choice of Games has had the most games nominated with a total of nine over six years.

## Winners and nominees

[edit]

In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than the game's release. Each year links to the corresponding "year in video games". Entries with a blue background and an asterisk (*) next to the writer's name have won the award; those with a white background are the other nominees on the shortlist. Entries with a gray background and a plus sign (+) mark a year when "no award" was selected as the winner.

* Winners and joint winners

Winners and nominees Year  | Writer(s)  | Game  | Developer  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

2019 | Charlie Brooker*  | Black Mirror: Bandersnatch | House of Tomorrow | [5]
Netflix
Matt Sophos | God of War | Santa Monica Studio | [5]
Richard Zangrande Gaubert
Cory Barlog
M. Darusha Wehm | The Martian Job | Choice of Games | [5]
Natalia Theodoridou | Rent-A-Vice | Choice of Games | [5]
Kate Heartfield | The Road to Canterbury | Choice of Games | [5]
2020 | Leonard Boyarsky*  | The Outer Worlds | Obsidian Entertainment | [6]
Kate Dollarhyde*
Paul Kirsch*
Chris L'Etoile*
Daniel McPhee*
Carrie Patel*
Nitai Poddar*
Marc Soskin*
Megan Starks*
Kelsey Beachum | Outer Wilds | Mobius Digital  | [6]
Kate Heartfield | The Magician's Workshop | Choice of Games | [6]
Robert Kurvitz | Disco Elysium | ZA/UM  | [6]
Elsa Sjunneson-Henry | Fate Accessibility Toolkit | Evil Hat Productions | [6]
2021 | Greg Kasavin* | Hades | Supergiant Games | [7]
Stephen Bell | Blaseball | The Game Band | [7]
Joel A. Clark
Sam Rosenthal
Jake Elliot | Kentucky Route Zero | Cardboard Computer  | [7]
Phoebe Barton | The Luminous Underground | Choice of Games | [7]
Sam Kabo Ashwell | Scents & Semiosis | Sam Kabo Ashwell  | [7]
Cat Manning
Yoon Ha Lee
Caleb Wilson
Nicolas Guerin | Spiritfarer | Thunder Lotus Games | [7]
Maxim Monast
Alex Tommi
2022 | April Kit Walsh*  | Thirsty Sword Lesbians | Evil Hat Productions  | [8]
Whitney Delagio*
Dominique Dickey*
Jonaya Kemper*
Alexis Sara*
Rae Nedjadi*
Connor Alexander | Coyote and Crow | Coyote & Crow  | [8]
William McKay
Weyodi Oldbear
Derek Pounds
Nico Albert
Riana Elliott
Diogo Nogueira
William Thompson
Balogun Ojetade | Granma's Hand | Roaring Lion Productions  | [8]
Jay Dragon | Wanderhome | Possum Creek Games  | [8]
Nate Austin | Wildermyth | Worldwalker Games  | [8]
Anne Austin
Douglas Austin
2023 | Hidetaka Miyazaki*  | Elden Ring | FromSoftware | [9]
George R. R. Martin*
Ben McCaw | Horizon Forbidden West | Guerrilla Games | [9]
Annie Kitain
Ajit George | Journeys through the Radiant Citadel | Wizards of the Coast | [9]
F. Wesley Schneider
Justice Ramin Arman
Dominique Dickey
Basheer Ghouse
Alastor Guzman
D. Fox Harrell
T.K. Johnson
Felice Tzehuei Kuan
Surena Marie
Mimi Mondal
Mario Ortegón
Miyuki Jane Pinckard
Pam Punzalan
Erin Roberts
Stephanie Yoon
Terry H. Romero
Kate Dollarhyde | Pentiment | Obsidian Entertainment | [9]
Zoe Franznick
Märten Rattasepp
Josh Sawyer
Steven Lerner | Stray | BlueTwelve Studio  | [9]
Vivien Mermet-Guyenet
Colas Koola
Natalia Theodoridou | Vampire: The Masquerade — Sins of the Sires | Choice of Games | [9]
2024 | Adam Smith*  | Baldur's Gate 3 | Larian Studios | [10]
Adrienne Law*
Baudelaire Welch*
Chrystal Ding*
Ella McConnell*
Ine Van Hamme*
Jan Van Dosselaer*
John Corcoran*
Kevin VanOrd*
Lawrence Schick*
Martin Docherty*
Rachel Quirke*
Ruairí Moore*
Sarah Baylus*
Stephen Rooney*
Swen Vincke*
Stewart C. Baker | The Bread Must Rise | Choice of Games | [10]
James Beamon
Sam Lake | Alan Wake II | Remedy Entertainment, Epic Games Publishing | [10]
Clay Murphy
Tyler Burton Smith
Sinikka Annala
Yoon Ha Lee | Ninefox Gambit: Machineries of Empire Roleplaying Game | Android Press  | [10]
Marie Brennan
Joel Mason | Dredge | Black Salt Games, Team17 | [10]
Julien Moya | Chants of Sennaar | Rundisc, Focus Entertainment | [10]
Thomas Panuel
2025 | Remy Siu | 1000xResist | Fellow Traveller Games | [11]
Pink Li
Conor Wylie
Stewart C. Baker | A Death in Hyperspace | Infomancy.net  | [11]
Phoebe Barton
James Beamon
Kate Heartfield
Isabel J. Kim
Sara S. Messenger
Naca Rat
Natalia Theodoridou
M. Darusha Wehm
Merc Fenn Wolfmoor
Hidetaka Miyazaki | Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree | From Software | [11]
Benjamin Rosenbaum | The Ghost and the Golem | Choice of Games | [11]
Karrie Shao | Pacific Drive | Ironwood Studios  | [11]
Paul Dean
Natalia Theodoridou | Restore, Reflect, Retry | Choice of Games | [11]
Tony Howard-Arias | Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut | Black Tabby Games  | [11]
Abby Howard
Jay Dragon | Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast | Possum Creek Games  | [11]
M. Veselak
Mercedes Acosta
Lillie J. Harris

## See also

[edit]

* Hugo Award for Best Game or Interactive Work

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Flood, Allison (April 28, 2009). "Ursula K Le Guin wins sixth Nebula award". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
2. ^ Garmon, Jay (October 3, 2006). "Geek Trivia: Science-fiction double feature". TechRepublic. TechnologyAdvice. Archived from the original on February 14, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
3. ^ a b c "Nebula rules". Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
4. ^ Catalano, Frank (November 12, 2018). "First-ever Nebula award for game writers approved by professional science fiction writers organization". GeekWire. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
5. ^ a b c d e "Nebula Awards 2019". Science Fiction Awards Database. Locus. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
6. ^ a b c d e "Nebula Awards 2020". Science Fiction Awards Database. Locus. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
7. ^ a b c d e f "Nebula Awards 2021". Science Fiction Awards Database. Locus. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
8. ^ a b c d e "Nebula Awards 2022". Science Fiction Awards Database. Locus. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
9. ^ a b c d e f "Nebula Awards 2023". Science Fiction Awards Database. Locus. Archived from the original on May 15, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
10. ^ a b c d e f "Nebula Awards 2024". Science Fiction Awards Database. Locus. Archived from the original on June 12, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
11. ^ a b c d e f g h "Nebula Awards 2025". Science Fiction Awards Database. Locus. Retrieved March 14, 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Nebula Awards official site

* v
* t
* e

Nebula Awards

Nebula Awards|

* Novel
* Novella
* Novelette
* Short Story
* Game Writing
* Script
* Ray Bradbury Award for Dramatic Presentation
* Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

Retrospective awards|

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame
Volume 1
Volume 2

Other SFWA awards|

* Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award
* Author Emeritus

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