Tencent’s Steven Ma appointed to The Games Awards’ Advisory Board

The Games Awards has appointed Tencent’s senior vice president, Steven Ma, to its advisory board.

The Games Awards "celebrates the best video games and esports of the year, and world premieres the most anticipated games of the future". Its fifth award ceremony is set to take place next month.

While not involved in the selection of award nominees or winners, The Game Awards advisory board works to "guide and advance the mission" of The Game Awards and "brings together a diverse group of game players, game developers, and notable names from popular culture to celebrate and advance gaming’s position as the most immersive, challenging and inspiring form of entertainment".

Other members include representatives from Activision, AMD, Electronic Arts, Kojima Productions, Microsoft, Nintendo of America, Rockstar Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Ubisoft, Valve, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

Tencent worked with executive producer and creator Geoff Keighley previously to help broadcast the award event in China, prompting Keighley to state that Ma’s experience "will help grow the broadcast’s global distribution".

“I am honoured to be a part of the illustrious advisory board for the Game Awards,” said Ma about the appointment (via Variety). “Their awards are a celebration of the gaming industry and players around the globe, and have been a key voice in both recognising achievements and understanding future trends.”

The next Game Awards ceremony is set to take place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, on December 6th and once again, the show will be available on livestream for free "across all major digital, gaming and social platforms around the world".

Last year, The Legend of Zelda was one of the biggest winners, taking Best Game Direction, Game of the Year and Best Action/Adventure, but Cuphead and Hellblade picked up three awards apiece. Nintendo secured five awards for their games – or six, if you count Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, despite its development at Ubisoft.