The 2026 Games for Change Special Award Recipients are:
Vanguard Award – Jenn Panattoni
The G4C Vanguard Award is given each year to an individual who has made notable contributions to the gaming community. Jenn Panattoni is a pioneer of social impact work inside the games industry.
She founded the Xbox Social Impact team in 2018, where she spearheaded campaigns that generated more than $250 million in value for nonprofits worldwide. She now leads her own agency, Aizle Impact, which builds cause partnerships across gaming and entertainment.
Industry Leadership – Thatgamecompany
The G4C Industry Leadership Award recognizes companies doing exemplary work at the intersection of games and social impact. For two decades, thatgamecompany has reimagined what games can be, embedding emotion and human connection at their core.
The company’s titles, including Flower, Journey, and Sky: Children of the Light, have shaped how the wider industry thinks about what games can express and the feelings they leave with players.
Sky’s most recent seasonal update is an homage to Vincent Van Gogh, and it highlights his art work and extraordinary communication about mental wellness with his brother before Van Gogh’s untimely death.
Led by cofounder and game director Jenova Chen, Thatgamecompany is currently supporting its latest title, Sky: Children of the Light, which broke the Guinness World Record for “most users in a concert-themed virtual world” and achieved over 300 million downloads since its launch in 2019.
Giving Award – SpecialEffect
The G4C Giving Award recognizes companies, organizations, and individuals who make significant contributions through community initiatives, fundraising, or donations.
Since 2007, the UK-based charity SpecialEffect has helped people with physical disabilities play video games using individually tailored assistive technology solutions, such as eye-control and adapted controllers. Their work has broadened access to gaming worldwide, allowing more people to play in new and inclusive ways.
SpecialEffect is transforming the lives of people with physical challenges right across the world through the innovative use of technology. At the core of this mission is their work to optimise inclusion, enjoyment and quality of life by helping people control video games to the best of their abilities. Their teams of occupational therapists and gaming specialists in the UK create bespoke control setups for hundreds of individuals each year, while their R&D team use what they learn in the field to develop freely-available resources and solutions to help level the playing field for gamers with physical challenges all over the world.
G4C tickets
These honorees, plus the G4C Award winners, will be recognized during the G4C Awards Ceremony on July 21, hosted by actors Anjali Bhimani (Overwatch, Apex Legends, Ms. Marvel) and Osric Chau (Supernatural, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency).
Regular-priced tickets for the Games for Change event are available until July 5, 2026, with discounts offered for nonprofits, educators, and students. View the full Festival lineup and register at festival.gamesforchange.org.
Jenn Panattoni is honored as the 2026 Vanguard Award recipient; thatgamecompany receives the Industry Leadership Award; and SpecialEffect is recognized with the Giving Award
NEW YORK, June 25, 2026 – Today,