Fumito Ueda, the 'colossus' who came up with 'The Last Guardian', honorary award from Fun & Serious

The talented Japanese developer will have his recognition in the eighth edition of the video game festival

The Fun & Serious videogame festival will recognize Fumito Ueda with an honorific prize in its eighth edition, which will be held from 7 to 10 December in Bilbao. Ueda (Japan, 1970) will be awarded for his creative career, which since 2001 has managed to seduce players with three unique titles and a special sensitivity:

Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian, according to EL CORREO. The Japanese is a fundamental author to understand the history of video games, since his creations changed the way of understanding them and influenced many later games.

Intimate, full of symbolism and emotion and with a very personal narrative style, their games have become classics that transcend frontiers characterized by their universal stories and their brief use of dialogue, letting the atmosphere, the gestures and their captivating images speak to the player, whom he encourages to use his imagination to be able to decipher his continuation in the game.

With this award, which will be presented during the traditional awards gala at the Guggenheim Museum on the night of December 10, Fun & Serious not only recognizes the importance of Ueda's achievements and career, but also its significant role in the industry of electronic entertainment, being one of the creators that elevate videogames to the category of art. Their titles have reached the category of cult and exhibit an exceptional artistic quality.

Ueda is still active, and is currently working on his next videogame, which promises to surprise, and, in his particular style, seek reflection through visual art together with the narrative.

Worldwide reference

Alfonso Gómez, director of the Fun & Serious festival, declares: "Awarding a prize to a figure like Ueda, whose work has undoubtedly promoted videogames towards a visual art form, gives us reasons to be proud and reflects the key role that Fun & Serious has, as a global benchmark for the video game industry. »

As part of its attendance at the Awards Presentation Gala, Ueda will be part of the VIT Talks-a series of talks led by experts in video games, where innovation and current trends are discussed, which are organized within the framework of the festival and that put numerous industry names in contact with the public.

Throughout the last eight years, the Fun & Serious festival has become a key meeting point for the industry, focusing its objective in elevating the development of video games to the category of work of art, at the height of cinema or music. In this sense, it seeks to recognize the importance of an industry that enjoys very good health both in the world and in Spain: In 2016 the effective production of the videogame sector in Spain was 1,177 million euros. Its added value was 503 million euros and its direct employment was 8,790 people.

 The video game industry is equivalent to 0.11 of GDP. Globally, the sector grew by 8.5% in 2016 compared to the previous year, reaching a total turnover of 99.6 billion dollars (Source: AEVI, Spanish Association of Video Games).