Journey Awarded Top Gong at GameCity 2012

Thatgamecompany’s exceptional PlayStation Network exclusive Journey took home the second GameCity Prize last night, when it was selected from a shortlist that included Catherine and Mass Effect 3.

"I really like the goal of GameCity, to get people to notice games and talk about games, particularly for people who don't encounter many video games in their daily life," said thatgamecompany's gaffer Jenova Chen.

"Thatgamecompany has always focused on making games for everyone, so it's nice to see GameCity recognise our game and give us an award. In the end, we believe that games are a mature media that deserve to be enjoyed and loved by everyone, by people. Thank you very much for this prize."

The judging panel consisted of columnist Lucy Kellaway, designer Wayne Hemingway, comedian Charlie Higson, and DJ Jo Wiley. Film maker Lord Puttnam chaired the panel.

He said: "Journey was a unanimous choice for the GameCity Prize 2012, many of the jurors were un-experienced in playing videogames and it confounded their expectations of what videogames were.

"Of all the shortlisted titles, Journey presents the player with an especially coherent vision, simultaneously fantastic and familiar. All of the Jury commented on the art direction in particular, the extraordinary sense of size and scale it portrayed. Whilst it was a short game, it was in no way small. It's a focused, detailed piece of work - challenging you to measure it in terms other than just the length of gameplay."

We awarded thatgamecompany’s third PSN exclusive a prestigious perfect score in our Journey review, noting that it’s “the kind of title that comes once in a generation”. Thankfully, it was followed by the equally fantastic The Unfinished Swan earlier this month. We look forward to Giant Sparrow claiming the gong next year.