MUMBAI: Recognizing writers as a primary creative force in today’s gaming industry, the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced the call for submissions for the WGA’s second annual Videogame Writing Award to be presented at the upcoming 2009 Writers Guild Awards to be held on 7 February, 2009, simultaneously in Los Angeles and New York.

Submissions for this year’s Videogame Writing Award will be taken from 17 September through 24 November, 2008. Videogame award nominees will be announced on 12 January, 2009.

Developed and driven by the Guilds’ Videogame Writers Caucus “to encourage storytelling excellence in videogames, to improve the status of writers, and to begin to encourage uniform standards within the gaming industry,” the Videogame Writing Award recognizes the essential creative contributions made by videogame writers. As writers are rapidly becoming more central players in this medium, the Guilds are working to bring more videogame projects under their jurisdiction to ensure writers receive the benefits of a WGA contract.

This past February, Dead Head Fred (D3 Publisher), written by Dave Ellis and Adam Cogan, took home the WGA’s first Videogame Writing Award. In an industry that has, in recent years, witnessed major cultural and critical attention, as well as significant commercial growth, marquee-title videogame sales often surpass opening-weekend theatrical box-office gross figures in their first week. Other videogames nominated in 2007 included World in Conflict, The Simpson Game, The Witcher, and Crash of the Titans.