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Roberta Williams to be honored with Pioneer Award at GDCA 2020

The undisputed queen of point-and-click adventure design, Roberta Williams is slated to be honored with the Pioneer Award at GDCA 2020.
TJ Denzer
TJ Denzer
1

Roberta Williams is already a legend in video game history. One of the central cogs of Sierra On-Line back in the day alongside co-founder and husband Ken Williams, Roberta oversaw the development of almost the entire King’s Quest series. As a director, writer, producer, and game designer, Williams’ hands were in nearly every pot of point-and-click game design, and this year at the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) 2020, Williams will be honored with the Pioneer Award for her work.

The organizers of GDC announced Roberta’s special honor in the 2020 GDCAs via the GDC blog on February 26, 2020. Set to take place on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco California, the GDCAs will award Roberta Williams the Pioneer Award, which recognizes breakthroughs in tech and gaming milestones.

“Roberta Williams has been recognized throughout the decades as one of the most influential game developers in the history of the medium, and her focus on storytelling in video games has inspired countless developers to tell their own stories through gameplay,” GDC wrote.

Roberta Williams' King's Quest series was a tapestry of fun narrative gameplay that arguably paved the way for how stories could be told in games.
Roberta Williams' King's Quest series was a tapestry of fun narrative gameplay that arguably paved the way for how stories could be told in games.

Roberta Williams will be honored alongside Kate Edward who will receive the Ambassador Award for her efforts at Microsoft. Further awards at the GDCAs will include Game of the Year, Best Audio, Best Narrative, and many more. You can check out the list of 2019 finalists for a better idea of what to expect when the 2020 GDCAs take place on March 18.

Roberta and Ken retired from game design, but their efforts live on in both the narratives of newer games today and reminiscing and reimagining the work they did through games like Full Throttle Remastered and Odd Gentleman’s King’s Quest reboot. For as much of the way as Roberta paved in narrative gaming, the Pioneer Award at GDCA 2020 is well-deserved and arguably a long time coming. Good game, Roberta.

Senior News Editor
Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

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