The Game Developers Conference will bestow the award to Kojima during the event. The Metal Gear creator will also deliver a keynote address on game design.

The GDC Awards will be held on March 25, along with the with the Independent Games Festival. On the same occasion, the Harmonix founders Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy will receive the Pionner Award. Veteran videogame composer Tommy Tallarico will receive the Ambassador Award.

Last year the winner was Sid Meier. Previous recipients include Shigeru Miyamoto, Richard Garriott, Eugene Jarvis, Mark Cerny, Gunpei Yokoi, Yuji Naka and Will Wright.