Epic to receive BAFTA Special Award ‘to mark their huge contribution’ to the games industry

Epic Games will receive a BAFTA Special Award at next month’s E3 convention.

Epic Games’ CEO, Tim Sweeney, will accept the award on behalf of the company at an event on June 12th, 2019.

Epic Games is behind battle royale megahit Fortnite, as well as Unreal Engine, the development engine used to power many of the industry’s biggest games. It also recently launched its own digital storefront, Epic Games Store, and has already secured PC-exclusivity of a range of big games, including Borderlands 3 and Outer Wilds.

According to BAFTA, “the company continues to innovate on established industry practice and champion the game development community”, and – according to  Dr Jo Twist OBE, Chair of BAFTA’s Games Committee – “it’s right to mark their huge contribution with this Special Award as part of BAFTA’s commitment to celebrating and promoting the very best in games”.

“We are delighted to present this year’s Special Award to Epic Games,” Twist OBE said via a press release. “Having powered the creativity and imaginations of development teams of all sizes over the years – many of whom have gone on to win BAFTAs – it’s right to mark their huge contribution with this Special Award as part of BAFTA’s commitment to celebrating and promoting the very best in games. Epic is at the forefront of the evolution of the global games industry and the impact of their innovation is undeniable.”

“All of us at Epic Games are honoured that BAFTA has awarded Unreal Engine for excellence in technology, and we share this recognition with our partners and the creative community,” added Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO at Epic Games.

Other game-industry recipients of BAFTAs include Nolan North, Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill on behalf of Riot Games, Brenda Romero, Amy Hennig, and Markus Persson.

Yesterday, we reported Epic acquired real-time 3D architectural software, Twinmotion, for an undisclosed sum – just one of a string of recent acquisitions for Epic that includes Psyonix, Agog Labs, and 3Lateral.