The Writers Guild of America drops games writing category from its 2020 awards

The Writers Guild of America has confirmed it will not be including a video game writing category in its 2020 awards.

In a statement to our friends at USGamer, the organisation - which has included games writing since at least 2008 - said the category would be "reinstated when there is a critical mass" of eligible video games.

"There won't be a Videogame Writing Award in 2020; however, the category will be reinstated when there is a critical mass of videogames covered by the WGA in order to provide a meaningful award selection process," the WGA said.

While a number of writers shared their dismay on Twitter, a number of notable video game writers, however, revealed only WGA members could have their games considered for the award, with many criticising the awards for being little more "than a way for the WGA to build its membership among games writers".

"I've never joined the WGA and never will," tweeted Half-Life and Portal writer, Chet Faliszek following the news. "To win this award you have to be a member. When they asked us to join so we could win - we could pay dues, but not vote because game writing isn't real writing, not like have a short story published in a zine read by 12 people."

"The WGA Game Writing Award was never more than a way for the WGA to build its membership among game writers, incentivizing us to pay dues in exchange [for] the privilege of being eligible for that award," added Mortal Kombat 11 writer, Shawn Kittelsen.

"For all the good and vital work that the WGA does for writers in the Film & TV markets, they have ZERO presence in the games industry. Getting rid of this award at least does away with the charade that the WGA advocates for game writers in any capacity."

Prior nominees include The Last of Us, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Marvel's Spider-Man, and the rebooted God of War.