Writers Guild Announces Game Writing Nominees

The Writers Guild of America has made its selection for the first ever videogame writing award.  According to Susan Arendt of Wired, “The nominees include: Crash of the Titans, Dead Head Fred, The Simpsons Game, The Witcher, and World in Conflict .”

The 2008 Writers Guild Awards will be presented in Los Angeles on February 9, 2008.  The decision to award the unheralded work of gaming writers was made in March of 2007.  The move to award videogame writers might have been more politically motivated rather than artistically charged, however.

WGA West president Patric Verrone told Mark Androvich of Gamesindustry.biz that, “By recognising the skill and craft of videogame writing, the Writer’s Guilds intend to raise the profile of these writers so that they can get WGA contracts and benefits for this work.”  Certainly the incorporation of videogame writers would be a coup for the WGA and a boon to their clout and position.  As such, it looks as though the videogame moneymaking machine may have to be wary of striking writers in the future.