creator Masahiro Sakurai announced that his Game Designers Award will be discontinued due to his inability to find a successor. Since 2010, Sakurai has presented the award at the Japan Game Awards, and at 2026's event – where Pokemon Pokopia took home the grand prize (its version of game of the year) – the prize went to Word Game by Team9. The award is presented by Sakurai, who is also the head judge and responsible for inviting other judges, with the criteria being those who have made innovative games; these have included the likes of Ico designer Fumito Ueda, Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, and Undertale's Toby Fox. Upon presenting the 2026 award, Sakurai confirmed he would discontinue it, claiming he was unable to find anyone to replace him as its leader.
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GamesRadar