Produced and hosted annually by GDC Festival of Gaming, the GDCA will see the international game development community honor Don Daglow with the Lifetime Achievement Award for designing, programming or producing more than 100 games over the course of his 55-year career. This year’s Ambassador Award, given to key individuals who help video games advance to a better place through advocacy and action, will go to the influential programmer and co-founder of Interplay Productions, Rebecca Ann Heineman, who will receive the award posthumously. The ceremony will take place Thursday, March 12 at 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM. The GDC Festival of Gaming, a global gathering for the full game-making ecosystem, will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center from March 9 – 13, 2026.
Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Don Daglow is an Emmy® Award winning game designer with a 55-year career covering over 100 games. His passion was born as a playwriting major at Pomona College, programming text games on mainframe computers. Daglow has worked on every generation of video game consoles, starting as one of the five original Intellivision game programmers (and Atari rivals) at Mattel in 1980. Don Daglow’s pioneering titles include the first interactive baseball game (BASBAL, 1971); the first chatbot to surpass Eliza (Ecala, 1972); the first RPG on a non-classroom computer (Dungeon, 1976); the first console God Game, City Builder and RTS (Utopia, 1981); the first video game to use multiple camera angles (World Series Major League Baseball (1983); the first MMORPG to use graphics instead of text (Neverwinter Nights, 1991-1997, AOL, Emmy Award). He also served as Executive Producer on hit franchises including Carmen Sandiego, EA Sports, Lord of the Rings, Prince of Persia, Sim City (distribution) & Star Wars.
Rebecca Ann Heineman (1963–2025), recipient of this year’s Ambassador Award, was a trailblazing figure in the games industry, celebrated as one of the first professional video game players and a pioneering developer. In 1980, she made history by winning the first National Space Invaders Championship, becoming the inaugural U.S. video game tournament champion. This victory launched a 45-year career during which she contributed to over 250 games, including classics like The Bard's Tale III, Dragon Wars, Wolfenstein 3D, and Doom (3DO). Rebecca co-founded Interplay Productions, helping create beloved franchises like The Bard’s Tale, and later founded Contraband Entertainment, contributing to acclaimed titles such as Myth III, Baldur’s Gate II, and Icewind Dale. She also led programming projects for major companies like Electronic Arts, Amazon, and Sony. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, Rebecca was a prominent transgender advocate whose contributions and commitment to representation cemented her legacy as a visionary in gaming history.
“Honoring the creators who shaped this industry is one of the great privileges of hosting the Game Developers Choice Awards,” said Nina Brown, President of GDC. “Don Daglow and Rebecca Heineman helped define what games could become, and their innovations continue to influence how developers create today. As GDC Festival of Gaming transforms alongside a rapidly changing industry, their legacy reminds us that creativity, conviction, and bold experimentation are what move this medium forward.”
Recipients of the Lifetime Achievement and Ambassador Award were chosen by this year’s Game Developers Choice Editorial Committee, following suggestions from the International Choice Awards Network (ICAN). The Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony (Thursday, March 12 at 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM) and Independent Games Festival (IGF) Awards ceremony (Wednesday, March 11 at 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM) are both signature events of GDC Festival of Gaming. All GDC Festival of Gaming passholders are invited to attend in person at the Moscone Center, and both ceremonies will be streamed live and archived on both the GDC Twitch channel and GDC YouTube channel for a global audience.