Gamesbeat unveiled the winners of his eight annual visionary prizes at the 2025 Gamesbeat Summit event in Los Angeles.
The winner of the Visionary Prize is the president of entertainment of entertainment software (ESRB) Patricia VanceAnd the upstream winner is a strange chief of scaffolding, Xalavier Nelson Jr.
The editorial director of Gamesbeat, Dean Takahashi, launched the visionary prices in 2018 to recognize the industry leaders who adopted a daring visionary approach to shape the future of the game, forging new paths that have a fascinated and redefined public of video games. Two awards are awarded each year: the Visionary Prize and the UP-Arrivative Prize. This year’s ceremony was organized by Andrea RenéPresident of Shortie Media and former executive producer of What’s Good Games.
The winners were chosen by a panel of judges from all over the industry, notably the president of Xbox, Sarah Bond, the founder of the games led by women Charmaine Duff and the veteran developer John Smedley.
Presentation of visionary prices
At ESRB, Patricia Vance heads the teams responsible for age and content on video games and applications, and the application of marketing directives that have been adopted by the entire industry. She is also a founding member of the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), a non -profit organization that operates a global age rating and classification system for games and digital applications
The co-founder of Zebra Partners, Perrin Kaplan, presented Vance on stage, calling it “pioneer respected on the content ratings” and a calm leader who does it better than anyone. Unlike many winners who tend to be in the eyes of the public, Kaplan noted that Vance’s work is largely behind the scenes, pleading for games and “protecting the right of our industry to govern itself”.
In her speech of acceptance, Vance said that over the past 45 years, she has had the privilege of working in some of the most dynamic and evolving industries, from the first days of cable television to the explosion of interactive media. But her “most significant chapter” was her time at ESRB, which she joined over 20 years ago.
“When I joined [the ESRB] In 2002, there was a blatant vulnerability threatening the integrity of the video game industry: children could enter a retail store and buy an educated video game, no question asked, “said Vance.” So we got to work. We launched the ESRB Retail Council and convinced the largest retailers to intensify. »»
In 2009, the Federal Trade Commission acknowledged that the video game industry had the strongest and highest compliance regulatory code for this code, even exceeding films and music. Then, a historic moment came when the Supreme Court of the United States acknowledged that video games are a form of protected speech, Vance saying that it was a “powerful validation of what self-regulation has done well can achieve”.
But she declared that the biggest challenge that ESRB has ever been confronted with is the development of mobile games and the explosion of digital publishing, and the creation of a rating process that could evolve to respect the high volume of games while allowing developers to access culturally relevant and compliant notes in different regions of the whole world on each platform “. This has led to the creation of the Circ, and today the system is used by 13 windows on mobile, console, virtual reality and PC, with nine regional authorities on board.
“So why is all this important? Because our work helps reduce the risk for publishers, protects the unnecessary regulation industry, and above all, informing consumers, it guarantees your freedom to create the games you want to make,” said Vance.
She noted how ESRB works quietly in the background of the industry, what it should be. It is ungrateful work most of the time, and it has often felt invisible during conferences and game events.
“So I cannot tell you how much it means being recognized today. I accept this award on behalf of my extraordinary team in New York, which is as passionate about this industry as I am, and who are absolutely relentless in their commitment to our mission,” said Vance. “And finally, but not the least, we could not do our job without the constant and continuous support of the [Entertainment Software Association] And the many industry leaders who sit on our board of directors. »»
Presentation of upcoming prices
Xalavier Nelson Jr. is an independent and prolific independent developer who has worked on more than 90 games in the past eight years, including 15 from his own studio, Strange Scaffold. Unfortunately, he could not attend Gamesbeat Summit in person to accept his useful price. In a video, the director of development of the world of Cyan Worlds, Hannah Gamiel, presented Xalavier, saying that she had not yet met another developer who makes games with the same level of “frantic creativity” he makes.
“To say that its perspective on the manufacture of games is refreshing is an understatement. This quality of its strands in each game it makes. Xalavier is somehow wonderfully capable of carefully exploiting a meaning in an incredibly absurd context facade,” said Gamiel.
In his acceptance video, Nelson Jr. thanked all those with whom he worked at Strange Scaffold and throughout his career, and that without them, he would not be there. He joked by saying that the reception of this price was existing in disdain.
“”[This award] is for people whose greatest achievements are in front of them. I can think of at least three times in recent years only when I have been: “Oh, I don’t know if I will be able to play games”, “said Nelson Jr.
He has urged the public to continue to support and appear to each other, in particular in the light of the dismissals that have tormented industry in recent years.
“This is why, if I can urge something from the public, it is to look at people around you because the systemic problems in this medium – lack of funding, lack of employment safety – means that the person who is right next to you, no matter what they assume, no matter what their talents are, no matter their work and how much do you assume you.
“You are this person who must present themselves for them, because otherwise we cannot guarantee that they are here tomorrow, that they contribute to the future of our medium and what we can be,” said Nelson Jr.
