The Game Developers Choice Awards at GDC 2024 has revealed the recipients of the ceremony's prestigious special awards. Yoko Shimomura, composer for games such as Kingdom Hearts, Super Mario RPG, Street Fighter II, and Final Fantasy XV, will receive this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award—and Fawzi Mesmar, who has worked at major game companies for over 20 years in the industry and is an active mentor, author, public speaker and more, will receive the Ambassador Award, awarded to individuals who elevate video games and the industry as a whole to a better place.
“We are so proud to honor Yoko Shimomura and Fawzi Mesmar for their multiple decades worth of contribution to the crafts of art and making games,” said Stephenie Hawkins, Event Director at Informa Tech. “Not only have they created enduring works in the medium, they’ve also carved a path that allowed others in their fields to thrive and succeed. Their success is measured not just in their singular accomplishments, but in the ways they’ve inspired the works of other aspiring composers and designers around the world.”
“We are so proud to honor Yoko Shimomura and Fawzi Mesmar for their multiple decades worth of contribution to the crafts of art and making games,” said Stephenie Hawkins, Event Director at Informa Tech. “Not only have they created enduring works in the medium, they’ve also carved a path that allowed others in their fields to thrive and succeed. Their success is measured not just in their singular accomplishments, but in the ways they’ve inspired the works of other aspiring composers and designers around the world.”
