The folks behind the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (aka BAFTA) have confirmed plans to honor Riot Games cofounders Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck with a Special Award later this month.
Notably, this puts the pair among august company, as prior Special Award recipients include veteran game devs like Brenda Romero and Amy Hennig.
Beck and Merrill are of course being recognized for Riot’s breadwinner League of Legends, which was released in 2009 and has grown to become a bona fide phenomenon. The game itself earned a BAFTA award in 2015 for excellence in the “persistent game” category.
“Riot Games has had a major influence on our industry, from the way they work as a company, to the way they have constantly improved and evolved League of Legends, through to their approach in esports and the way they create wonderful must-see events,” stated BAFTA Games Committee chair Nick Button-Brown in a press release.
“Their worldwide events, their stadium-filling matches and the generation of stars that they have created have changed the way we and many other industries look at games.”
Merrill and Beck will receive the award at a special event in Los Angeles on June 12th, the day before E3 kicks off.