GamesBeat has announced the winners of its 2026 Visionary Awards, honoring leaders whose work is shaping the future of interactive entertainment.
As GamesBeat enters a new chapter of independence, the awards carry added weight. They recognize not just achievement, but meaningful impact across how games are built, who they serve, and what they can achieve.
This year’s honorees are:
- Up-and-Comer Award: Amir Satvat
- Visionary of the Year: Susanna Pollack
This is our ninth annual awards ceremony for the Visionary Award and the seventh for the Up-And-Comer Award.
Together, they represent both the future and the expanding purpose of the medium. We will recognize them during a special live closing ceremony on May 19 at the GamesBeat Visionary Awards, part of the flagship GamesBeat Summit in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be hosted by Larry Hryb, a longtime and influential voice in gaming known for his years as Xbox’s Major Nelson. We look forward to bringing our combined communities together to recognize these leaders who are driving the industry forward.
I originally established the Visionary Awards back in 2018, when Myst co-creator Rand Miller received our first award, and we added the Up and Comer Award in 2020, giving the first award to Eve Crevoshay, former executive director of mental health for game developers nonprofit Take This.
We have consistently spotlighted those at the forefront of games and technology. This year marks the first awards cycle since GamesBeat became an independent media organization, elevating the moment as a reflection on leadership and the evolving role of games in society.
The selection process is guided by a panel of industry judges, including Sarah Bond of Xbox , as well as a distinguished panel of professionals from across the games business.
Honorees Shaping the Industry
Amir Satvat has distinguished himself through a form of leadership grounded in service to the community. During a period marked by layoffs and instability, he mobilized resources, built widely used support networks, and helped connect thousands of professionals to new opportunities.
Satvat is currently business development director at Tencent Games in North America and the founder and leader of ASGC (Always Supporting the Games Community), the largest and most impactful career support network in the video game industry.
What began in November 2022 as a single LinkedIn spreadsheet of scraped game industry job listings has grown into a global support network of 14 always-free job-seeking resources spanning LinkedIn, Discord, and its dedicated website at asgc.gg. ASGC’s thousands of volunteers have provided nearly 100,000 free career coaching conversations and helped more than 4,800 people land new roles. ASGC also maintains the largest and most accurate list of games jobs in the world, and has distributed more free passes (4,000+) to 60 or so games events (including GamesBeat events) than any other organization in the industry, including being a community partner and the largest pass recipient for GDC and gamescom.
The community’s guiding principles are simple: “We help gamers get hired. Zero profit, infinite caring.” Alongside its career programs, ASGC has become the definitive source of data and insight on the games labor market. Much of it gathered as primary data through ASGC’s own job board, layoff tracker, and quarterly community-verified audits, Amir’s research has reshaped how the industry understands itself — quantifying hiring vs. layoff dynamics, regional concentration, role-level recovery, and the true odds of getting hired by experience level.
It is widely cited as the richest, most accurate view of the games workforce that exists, and routinely surfaces trends that public trackers miss entirely. In addition to Tencent, Amir’s 20-year career spans Amazon, Veeam, VMware, Dell EMC, and Goldman Sachs. At Amazon, he led business development and strategy for Prime Gaming and served as a Principal Producer for Amazon Games. He also serves as an advisory network member at Vivrato and as a special advisor to the Zero Abuse Project, and the ASGC community supports Gamers for CHOC each year to benefit sick children. His work has been featured by Bloomberg, NPR, Business Insider, CBC, The Los Angeles Times, IGN, GamesBeat, PC Gamer, Polygon, and Matt Ball’s annual industry report, amongst others. He speaks at many gaming events and we’re honored he will speak at GamesBeat Summit again and also given acceptance speech at the closing of GamesBeat Summit 2026.
Susanna Pollack continues to expand the boundaries of what games can achieve. As president of Games for Change, she has led global efforts to position interactive media as a force for education, social impact, and civic engagement.
Pollack is a cross-sector leader with more than 25 years of experience advancing ambitious social impact goals through traditional, digital, and interactive media. As president of Games for Change (G4C), she leads the organization best known for the annual Games for Change Festival—hailed by national media as “the Sundance of video games.”
Under her leadership, G4C has significantly expanded its global footprint and influence, establishing a worldwide network of convenings and partnerships, including high-level collaborations with the United Nations and UN agencies. Today, G4C Festivals and summits take place in 13 countries across five continents. The G4C Student Challenge, which Susanna founded in 2013, has grown from a NYC based program into a global movement, engaging more than 75,000 students across 91 countries and helping to define pathways for the next generation of game designers and social impact leaders.
As an Executive Producer, Susanna connects award-winning creators with mission-driven institutions to develop impactful media projects and initiatives. Her work includes partnerships with organizations such as the Nobel Peace Center, UNICEF, the LEGO Foundation, Minecraft, Meta, and the Bezos Family Foundation, among others, bridging creative industries with global social impact priorities.
G4C’s programs and initiatives have received widespread recognition, including a Classy Award, Anthem Award, Shorty Impact Award, and Engage for Good Halo Award. Susanna herself has been recognized as one of the sector’s leading voices, named to the NonProfit Times Power & Influence Top 50 List and the Worthy 100, honoring the most innovative nonprofit leaders worldwide.
Prior to joining Games for Change, Susanna held senior executive roles across the commercial and public sectors, including 14 years at BBC Worldwide, where she served in multiple SVP-level positions spanning strategy, production, and global partnerships.
G4C just held an international event at its chapter in Nairobi, Kenya. It partned with Games for Change Africa, Pan Africa Gaming Group and Playing for the Planet Alliance.
Visionary Awards Presenters
This year’s awards will be presented by:
Richard Browne: A seasoned executive with experience across gaming and media, Browne brings a global, strategic view of the industry’s evolution and its next phase of growth.
Kahlief Adams: Founder of Spawn On Me and a prominent advocate for diversity and inclusion, Adams has built a platform that elevates underrepresented voices and challenges the industry to broaden its perspective.
A defining industry gathering at GamesBeat Summit
The Visionary Awards will be presented during GamesBeat Summit on May 18–19 in Los Angeles, convening top executives and industry leaders at a defining moment for the global games business.
To receive a Visionary Award is to be recognized by GamesBeat’s editorial voice and the broader industry community as a leader actively shaping the future of interactive entertainment.
To mark the occasion, GamesBeat is offering indie developers, freelancers, and startups a limited 2-for-1 ticket opportunity, with two passes available at $249 each while supplies last. GB MAX members will also have access to a VIP lounge to connect with winners and speakers.
Visionary awards is one of many special programs taking place, check them all out and apply to take part.
It’s that time where the community will show up, celebrate, and help mark a moment that reflects what this industry can be at its best.
Thanks to our all-star judges from the game industry:
Sarah Bond, special adviser to CEO at Xbox, former president of Xbox
Rich Vogel, former studio head at T-Minus Zero Entertainment
Don Daglow, CEO of Sausalito Games, adviser, GDC lifetime achievement winner
Patricia Vance, president of Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB)
Kahlief Adams, founder of SpawnOnMe
Meggan Scavio, president of Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Michael Pachter, managing director at Wedbush Securities
Dean Takahashi, editorial director at GamesBeatElizabeth Olson, sole proprietor at Strategic Marketing
Sibel Sunar, CEO of Fortyseven Communications
Our past winners include:
2025: Visionary Award: Patricia Vance — president of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board
Up‑and‑Comer Award: Xalavier Nelson Jr. — studio head, Strange Scaffold
2024: Visionary Award: Sam Lake — creative director at Remedy Entertainment (Alan Wake 2)
Up‑and‑Comer Award: Kahlief Adams — CEO, Spawn On Me
2023: Visionary Award: Meggan Scavio, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Up and comer: Rich Vogel, former studio head at T-Minus Zero Entertainment
2022: Visionary Award: Sarah Bond — special adviser to CEO at Xbox; former president of Xbox
Up‑and‑Comer Award: Dinga Bakaba — studio director, Arkane Lyon (Bethesda)
2021: Visionary Award: Laura Miele, president of EA Entertainment and Central Development at Electronic Arts
Up‑and‑Comer Award: Natasha “ZombaeKillz” Zinda
2020: Visionary Award: John Smedley, CEO of Distinct Possibility Studios
Up-and-comer Award: Eve Crevoshay, former executive director at Take This
2019: Visionary Award: Ted Price, former CEO of Insomniac Games
2018: Visionary Award: Rand Miller, co-creator of Myst and cofounder of Cyan