The Nebula Awards is one of the highest honors for science fiction and fantasy writers. Starting in 1966 through the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), nominations and winners are selected by those who belong to the guild. While initially a main-stain for written, published works, in the mid-70's it included film and television. It's surprising that it took this long for video games to be included, given how prevalent sci-fi and fantasy are in the gaming landscape. And of those who have accepted video games so openly, it's been the sci-fi/fantasy fans.
SFWA president Cat Rambo stated that the organization began accepting video game writers as members this year, and started a new category for Best Game Writing for the 2018 awards. Any game released in 2017 will be eligible.
But it's been a long process. Rambo stated that they've attempted three times prior over the past few years to get a gaming category into the Nebula Awards, but conflicts arose. Details were not provided, but it may have to do with conflicts of interest with the Writers Guild of America, which game writers can be a member of but their works may not be eligible for awards with published book groups. It's hard to say the reasons why, but that's the first one that comes to mind.
Best of luck to our gaming heroes next year with the awards!
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