The Hugo Awards are given out every year and are largely considered the most prestigious prize in science fiction. For the first time, one of the coveted awards has been awarded to a video game.

Hades is the first video game to win a Hugo. Despite the fact that the awards do not have a category for "best video game," a one-time category was developed for this year that met the World Science Fiction Convention's guidelines.

Since the awards' inception in 1953, winners have included science fiction legends like Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, and Frank Herbert, as well as fantasy authors like J.K. Rowling, George R.R. Martin, and Rebecca Roanhorse.

The famous prize, which includes honours for best novel, best short storey, and best graphic tale, among other categories, have had a little more international view since the 2010s, realising that some of the best works of science fiction and fantasy are not limited to the anglosphere. Cixin Liu, a Chinese science fiction writer, was awarded the best novel in 2015 and 2017 for The Three-Body Problem and Death's End (translated into English by Ken Liu). The Hugo Awards appear to be widening their scope even more presently. The category for the best video game is being considered a permanent award.

Hades triumphed over The Last of Us 2, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Blaseball, and Spiritfarer in a competition that included The Last of Us 2, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Blaseball, and Spiritfarer. The following is the Hugo Award's citation:

BEST VIDEO GAME
(A one-off category created as per WSFS rules by DisCon III)
Hades (Publisher and Developer: Supergiant Games)

Greg Kasavin, the creative director of Supergiant Games, took to Twitter to thank him: "I wished I could have been present at the Hugo Awards. Although I was unable to provide an acceptance speech on behalf of the team, I did have a few words to say here. I'm glad the awards recognise work in this category, let alone the job we performed!"

Hades was released in September of last year on PC and Nintendo Switch, and in August of this year on Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 5. On current-gen consoles, the roguelike has an aggregated Metacritic score of 93, which has been generally lauded for its narrative and funny take on Greek mythology.

Collete Fozard, the co-chair of the Hugo Awards, commented, "Many of us have spent more time gaming than we ever planned since early 2020." "Through this award, fans will be able to honour the games that have been significant, happy, and great in the past year."