Tribeca Film Festival will recognise video games as "official selections" from next year
Kiki Wolfkill and Hideo Kojima are amongst members of the festival's new gaming advisory board.
Tribeca Film Festival is expanding its call for submissions to video games for the very first time.
Though a handful of games have been recognised over the years - since LA Noire was recognised as an Official Selection in 2011, other games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Firewatch, What Remains of Edith Finch, and God of War have followed - next year's festivals marks the first in the event's history to open submissions for video games as well as an all-new honour, the Tribeca Games Award.
Shaping the inaugural award is a newly-established advisory board which boasts a number of the industry's "top creators", including co-founder of Electronic Arts Bing Gordon, The Game Awards producer Geoff Keighley, KJP's Hideo Kojima, Remedy creative director Sam Lake, and Head of Halo Transmedia & Entertainment, Kiki Wolfkill.
"In the ten years since we first welcomed a game to Tribeca's official program, we've seen an exciting convergence of games, film, and immersive experiences. Where there was once a clear delineation between media, there is now a blurring of the lines - stories have become games and games have become stories," explained Tribeca Film Festival co-founder and CEO, Jane Rosenthal. "Broad recognition for voices at the forefront of this ever-changing landscape is long overdue, and we intend to be a home for these creators whose incredible work should be celebrated."
"Tribeca Games is expanding in response to the enthusiasm we have seen from the games community and our audiences. Games have proven to be one of the most sophisticated storytelling vehicles today -- not only with narrative but also with incredible artistic mastery, the creation of highly immersive worlds and providing meaningful connections to communities all over the world," added Casey Baltes, Vice President of Tribeca Games. "We're excited to celebrate games and game creators alongside film, immersive, music, art, and more at next year's Festival."
