The Society for Game Cinematics (SGC) hosted the first annual Cinematic Awards on Tuesday, March 10, bringing together artists, developers, and studios from across the industry to celebrate the craft of game cinematics.
For many in attendance, the evening felt long overdue, the group said.
The evening’s top honor, Excellence in Game Cinematics, went to Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which also earned Best Real-Time Cinematic and Outstanding Character Performance.
Fortnite’s “The Lost Chapter: Yuki’s Revenge” was another standout, winning Best Pre-Rendered Cinematic and Outstanding Cinematic Direction, along with Dispatch taking home two awards for Outstanding Editing and Outstanding Voice Performance.
The awards took place during the GDC Festival of Gaming in San Francisco and were backed by Epic Games’ Unreal Engine.
Twelve awards were presented by SGC Co-Founders Emily Hsu, Brian Horn, Marianne Hayden, Greg Mitchell, Lina Song, and Matthew Ward.
Additional winners included:
- Outstanding Sound Design: Ghost of Yōtei – “Prologue”
- Outstanding Original Music: South of Midnight
- Outstanding Cinematography: Battlefield 6 – “Frame Story CS5”
- Outstanding Art Direction: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – “The Gommage”
- Best Cinematic Marketing Trailer: Marathon – Cinematic Reveal Trailer
Amongst the awards, the inaugural event featured a variety of clever PSA commercials supporting a “Don’t Skip” campaign for game cinematics and several “live” TV broadcast segments from the National Videogame Museum in Frisco, Texas, featuring Awards Showrunner and SGC cofounder Greg Mitchell, acting as an enthusiastic connection to the history of videogame cinematics over decades of videogame development.
An informative segment featuring SGC Officer Dziewanna Picazo, was dedicated to “How an Award is Awarded,” helping share transparency on the society’s inclusion of all cinematic content amongst the entire industry and finally voted upon by the society’s collective members.
Founded to celebrate the growing role of cinematic storytelling in interactive entertainment, The Cinematic Awards highlight achievements across direction, editing, performance, sound design, cinematography, and real-time cinematic production.
The Society for Game Cinematics is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the art and craft of game cinematics and supporting the community of artists who create them.
For the complete list of nominees and winners, please visit: www.cinematicawards.com