Sweeping the Interactive Achievement Awards

Wow, what an evening it was last week at the annual Interactive Achievement Awards. UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves received ten Interactive Achievement Awards, including Overall Game of the Year. I was sitting in the audience watching the Naughty Dog team walk up to podium to accept one award after another. By the end of the show, the entire UNCHARTED 2 core team was on the stage with the biggest award in their hands, thanking their incredibly talented team and family members who supported their intense development cycle. AIAS Award, like the Academy Award for movies, is chosen and voted by the professional game developer community. It’s a celebration of creativity in game development and to let the world know who brought the most exceptional talent, passion and love to make a game in the past year. I have been attending this event for many years, but being associated with the game that has taken the highest honor of the year is an incredibly special moment for anyone in the industry. I was as ecstatic last year to see LittleBigPlanet receive the Overall Game of the Year honor, which also garnered a total of eight awards. It is mind boggling to think that we can now count three Overall Game of the Year awards from the academy — UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves in 2009, LittleBigPlanet in 2008 and God of War in 2005. Amazing.

I am fortunate to be part of the great creativity and innovation coming out of our first party studios time and time again. The accolades are so well deserved. Congratulations Evan, Christophe, Amy, Bruce, Richard and all the talented members of Naughty Dog!

Last week’s ceremony was also very special to me as Mark Cerny, my long term friend and business partner, was handed the prestigious Hall of Fame award. The list of past recipients included Shigeru Miyamoto, Will Wright, and John Carmack — legendary game creators that have shaped the game industry today. I have had the great honor and joy to work with Mark since I started in game development in PS one days, across Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance, UNCHARTED, and tech projects on PlayStation 2 and PS3. Mark has helped realize the creative visions of teams behind these great franchises, including producing, designing and programming many of them himself. I would not be doing what I do today if it were not for the great fortune (again) to be able to work with Mark for so many years. Congratulations Mark!

2009 was really a great year for us, not only did we have UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves, we also released Killzone 2, inFAMOUS, flOwer (which also received Casual Game of the Year last week!), Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, PixelJunk Shooter, LittleBigPlanet PSP, Gran Turismo PSP, Patapon 2 and so on. 2010 is already shaping up to be an exciting year as we just released MAG and with Heavy Rain, MLB 10: The Show and God of War III around the corner. We’ve also got ModNation Racers, Gran Turismo 5, and motion controller games that include many unannounced titles, as well as many new PSP and PSN titles hitting throughout this fiscal year.

We certainly have not been immune to the impacts of the economy, but I believe the gaming industry will continue to offer strong growth in the long term. And as far as PlayStation is concerned, I believe we have a truly strong line up in the pipeline, combined with a hardware installed base that is continuing to grow, and an evolving offering of new online features and services. 2010 is looking to be a great year for fans of PlayStation. We’re working hard to keep you entertained and excited with new games and services for many years to come.

And yes, The Last Guardian team is also working hard, too.