14 DAY TRIAL // Not many people can call themselves pioneers inside an industry, and coming up with something new that is actually worth the recognition of your peers is something we all stride towards. This year, the Game Developers Choice Awards has given none other than Valve's Gabe Newell this worthy recognition, and if not for the entire industry, then he most definitely has earned it as far as the PC goes. First awarded in 2008 at the GDCA, The Pioneer Award is received by those few that are “responsible for developing a vital technology or game design at a crucial juncture in video game history, paving the way for the many who followed them.”
Newell will be able collect his prize at the official ceremony in March, at the 2010 GDC that will be held in San Francisco. There will be over 3,000 members from the industry taking part in the event, and all of them will be “la creme de la creme,” so he'll have to get a really fancy speech ready for them. But considering how well he handled Left 4 Dead 2, it's safe to say he has a way with people, considering he managed to quell an entire boycott with just an airplane trip and a hands-on demo.
The GDC jury has decided to award him for his remarkable work in the industry, mainly “for his work in co-creating the PC key digital download service Steam, and helping to make possible some of the most important video games of the past two decades – from the Half-Life series through Portal to Team Fortress and beyond.” And when it puts it like that, it's hard to argue with it. Steam is currently the biggest online distribution service estimated at taking over 70 percent of the market, and the innovative Half-Life and Portal titles are part of the gaming history.
The Choice Awards Advisory Committee is made up of Ben Cousins (EA DICE), Harvey Smith (Arkane), Raph Koster (Metaplace), John Vechey (PopCap), Ray Muzyka (BioWare) and Clint Hocking (Ubisoft), amongst others, so we can rest assured that knowledgeable people were the ones that gave out this award.