Hades Wins Best Video Game at Hugo Award 2020

Recognizing achievements on best science fiction and fantasy literary works of previous year, Hugo Award is an annual accolade that is celebrated at World Science Fiction Convention each year for more than half a century since 1953.

Although there wasn't a category for video games, authorities made an exception for this year and 2018 roguelike action dungeon crawler Hades officially becomes first video game to win a Hugo Award, thus setting a historic moment.

Hades made its debut via Early Access for PC as an exclusive launch title for Epic Games Store by developer/publisher Supergiant Games. It eventually came to Steam and a full version was later released for Nintendo Switch handheld.

Hades would soon become highest-rated video game on Metacritic for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. It sold over a million copies worldwide and received "Game of the Year" award from publications like BAFTA and DICE.

Supergiant Games writer Greg Kasvin shared his reaction and thanked everyone for support on social media.

Wish I could have attended the #HugoAwards in person. I wasn't able to make an acceptance speech there on behalf of the team though did have a few words here. I'm grateful that the awards are recognizing work in this category, much less the work we did! pic.twitter.com/S9bfSp1i8H

— Greg Kasavin (@kasavin) December 19, 2021

Inspired by Greek mythology, Hades focuses on protagonist Zagreus, who attempts to escape underworld by dying over and over. In a branching narrative, he would meet many characters and receive assistance from gods of Olympus.

Hades had to compete with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Final Fantasy VII Remake and The Last of Us Part II to win this honor. Even though a one-off category, Hugo Award may consider making it a permanent addition in near future.