The Game Awards revealed the members of the inaugural Future Class today, a list that celebrates those aiming for a bright, bold, and inclusive future in gaming. Geoff Keighley revealed the list, which is a brand new addition for the 2020 Game Awards, along with a special painting created as a tribute to the class.
Gaming fans have been highly anticipating all that The Game Awards will have to offer this year. They have already voted to make Ghost of Tsushima the Player's Voice Game of the Year, and will soon learn the winners in each of the 30 categories, from the official Game of the Year to Content Creator of the Year.
After Geoff Keighley announced all the nominees for this year in November, fans learned that The Game Awards would feature a new concept called The Future Class. In order to be recognized, a person would have to be nominated by another. The Future Class would be a place for those whose voices help elevate the gaming art form and push the boundaries of inclusivity. The list includes people across all areas of the gaming industry, from content creators to game developers, narrative designers, marketing specialists, accessibility advocates, and more.
Profiles of each member can be found on The Game Awards website, but here is the full list of names.
Inaugural Members of The Future Class
Adam Campbell (Director of Product at Azoomee/Da Vinci and Co-founder of POC in Play)
Agnes Larsson (Lead Gameplay Developer for Minecraft)
Aleksandra Korabelnikova (Co-founder of game studio Eggnut)
Blessing Adeoye Jr. (Host/Producer of Kinda Funny and Kinda Funny Games Daily)
Brandon Cole (accessibility consultant)
Cantika (Facebook Gaming streamer)
Cherry Thompson (Accessibility Project Manager at Ubisoft)
Britt Clifford (Senior Producer at Obsidian Entertainment)
Christine Gutierrez (Lead Graphic Designer for Minecraft)
Cristina Amaya (Founder and President of Latinx in Gaming)
Dean Abdou (Host/Video Producer/Writer for GAMINGbible)
Derrick Fields (Creator of Waking Oni Games and streamer)
Dianna Lora (Account Manager at Ubisoft Massive)
Elaine Gomez (Game Designer at E-Line Media)
Fernando Reyes Medina (Game Designer at 343 Industries)
Francisco "Hambo" Lopez (Founder and Host of Yo soy un gamer)
Halley Gross (Co-writer and Narrative Lead at Naughty Dog)
Hannah Nicklin (CEO and Studio Lead at Die Gute Fabrik)
Ian Hamilton (Games accessibility specialist)
Jasmine Jupiter (Narrative designer)
Jen Oneal (Studio Head at Vicarious Visions)
Jennifer Scheurle (Lead Game Designer at Blackbird Interactive)
Jenny Xu (CEO of Talofa Games)
Jeremy Kaldobsky (Game developer/accessibility advocate for visually impaired)
Jessica Murrey (Common Ground Activism and game developer)
Jorge Garcia (Game developer, Founder of Mecha Studios and GameDevs.mx)
Kahlief Adams (Host and Founder of Spawn on Me)
Kaitlin Tremblay (Lead Narrative Designer at Capybara Games)
Kallie Plagge (Reviews Editor at GameSpot)
Kate Dollarhyde (Narrative Designer at Obsidian Entertainment)
Leanne Loombe (Director of Riot Forge)
Luis Alonso (Game developer at Recombobulator Games)
Lukas Eggen (Founding member of LAN Parties)
Marcus Howard (CEO of MetArena)
Maxi Graeff (Marketing Communications Lead at Xbox DACH)
Michelle Bresaw (Vice President of Product and Marketing at Activision)
Michelle Ma (game designer)
Morgan Baker (Games accessibility specialist)
Natalie Flores (Featured Contributor at Fanbyte)
Randy Fitzgerald (Games accessibility advocate with Facebook Gaming)
Royce Payne (Member of Maroon Tiger Gaming)
Stephanie Rosales (Quality Assurance Engineer at Riot Games, member of Riot Games’ Diversity & Inclusion council)
Steve Saylor (Games accessibility advocate & consultant)
Tanya DePass (Founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands)
Tara Mustapha (Game designer & producer, Founder of Code Coven)
Tülay Tetiker McNally (Director, Inclusive Design and Product Development at EA)
Vic Bassey (Sales & Business Development Manager at Raw Fury)
Whitney “Strix” Beltran (Project Narrative Director at Hidden Path Entertainment)
Xalavier Nelson Jr. (Game director & narrative lead)
Zachary Hartzman (Founder of Hey Listen Games)
This is an impressive list, and shows a trend that the gaming industry is hoping to be more diverse, inclusive, and accessible. Geoff Keighley is certainly keeping a focus on inclusion and accessibility with this year's Game Awards, even promising plans for additional accessibility features during The Game Awards event. Even more, Geoff Keighley commissioned South African artist Ryan Hewett to create an interpretation of what the face of The Game Awards statue might look like. The painting honors those that were chosen for the first Future Class.
Fans will be able to see the final piece tonight, and The Future Class will definitely get a shout out of some kind during the main program. Fans can also take advantage of the numerous sales of the nominated games because of the awards show. Surprise announcements, special appearances, and engaging performances will likely make this evening a great one.
The Game Awards will air tonight, December 10, at 3:30 PST across numerous platforms and co-streams from three studio locations in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and London.
Source: The Future Class