Video game pioneer Shuhei Yoshida to be awarded prestigious Bafta Fellowship

16 March 2023, 20:34

Yoshida Shuhei
Yoshida Shuhei. Picture: PA

Mr Yoshida will be presented with the accolade at the at the Bafta Games Awards later this month.

Video game industry pioneer Shuhei Yoshida will be honoured with a prestigious Fellowship at the Bafta Games Awards, it has been announced.

Mr Yoshida, Head of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) Independent Developer Initiative, will be presented with the accolade at the event on March 30.

The award recognises outstanding contributions to games, and is the highest accolade bestowed by Bafta to those who have driven positive change in the screen arts.

BAFTA Film Awards 2013 – Preparations – London
Yoshida will be presented with the accolade at the at the Bafta Games Awards later this month (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Bafta said Mr Yoshida’s Fellowship recognises him as a “champion of independent developers”.

Mr Yoshida joined the PlayStation project in 1993, promoting innovative games design and the role of independent developers, and helping to launch one of the most popular gaming consoles in the world.

He later became the president of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios (formerly Sony Computer Entertainment), and has overseen the company’s growth from a hardware and software developer to a global leader in interactive and digital entertainment.

During his time as head of SIE, from 2008 to 2019, Mr Yoshida was among those responsible for production of some of the industry’s most popular franchises.

Titles include Ratchet And Clank, Uncharted, God Of War, and The Last Of Us, which has recently been adapted into a successful HBO series.

I’ve always celebrated alongside these developers as their games have received well-deserved awards – it is an amazing honour for me to receive an accolade of my own.

Shuhei Yoshida

“Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with incredibly talented teams who’ve developed some of the best games in the industry,” Mr Yoshida said.

“I’ve always celebrated alongside these developers as their games have received well-deserved awards – it is an amazing honour for me to receive an accolade of my own.”

As a recipient of the Bafta Fellowship, Mr Yoshida joins other titans of the creative industry including Dame Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Martin Scorsese, and Dame Helen Mirren.

Bafta chief executive Jane Millichip said “Shuhei Yoshida is a pioneer in the games world and is hugely deserving of a Bafta Fellowship.

European premiere of Allelujah – BFI London Film Festival 2022
Yoshida joins the list of other famous Bafta Fellowship recipients including Dame Judi Dench (Yui Mok/PA)

“His collaborative, supportive approach continues to drive progress within the industry, using his platform to promote the voices and craft of others and champion the work of independent designers, studios and creatives.

“We look forward to honouring his contribution to games at the ceremony on March 30.”

Mr Yoshida will be presented with the award at the 19th annual Bafta Games Awards on March 30, taking place at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London’s South Bank.

The event, hosted by esports and gaming presenter Frankie Ward, will be livestreamed exclusively on Twitch.tv/BAFTA from 6.50pm.

By Press Association

More Technology News

See more More Technology News

A child's hands pressing laptop keys

Regulation and technology can help combat spread of online misogyny, expert says

Raspberry Pi 4 micro computer

Raspberry Pi profits tumble after supply shortages

An RNLI lifeboat brings a group of people thought to be migrants into Dover

UK to work with allies and social media to tackle people smuggling adverts

A child using an Apple iPhone smartphone

School curriculum resources to teach children about risks of in-game purchases

Credit and debit cards

More than £1 trillion worth of card transactions made in 2024, says UK Finance

Meta's decision to change its content policies was heavily criticised by online safety experts (PA)

Majority oppose Meta’s rollback of safety rules, charity says

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch speaking at their local election campaign launch

Badenoch says boy Adolescence lead character based on was ‘not white’

The Tesco website

Tesco app and website hit by service issue

Kemi Badenoch

Badenoch claims Adolescence ‘fundamentally changed’ story it is based on

The OpenAI logo appears on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with random binary data

OpenAI valued at 300 billion dollars after record-breaking funding round

A drone in the sky

New £20 million funding to help launch drone and flying taxi services

A man using a laptop

New laws to require firms to boost cyber security defences

A child looks at a phone screen in his bedroom

Most parents of 11 to 16-year-olds say child has internet in bedroom – survey

Sir Keir Starmer, left, sitting at a table with writer Jack Thorne and producer Jo Johnson, right, of Adolescence

Starmer: No ‘simple solution’ to boys being pulled into ‘whirlpool’ of misogyny

An electric car being charged

New car tax rules could ‘undermine consumer confidence’ in EVs, Treasury warned

US President Donald Trump

Trump says TikTok sale deal will be in place before Saturday deadline