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Assassin's Creed, The Last of Us, Alien get Writers Guild nods

Jessica Conditt
Senior Editor
Updated ·4 min read
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The Writers Guild of America has nominated Alien: Isolation, The Last of Us: Left Behind, Assassin's Creed: Unity and Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry for the 2015 award recognizing outstanding achievement in video game writing. Winners will be announced during simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City on Saturday, February 14.

Note that to be nominated for an award from the Writers Guild of America, "credited videogame writers must have been or must have applied to become members of the WGA Videogame Writers Caucus at the time scripts were submitted," meaning the pool of eligible writers is limited. (Yes, the Guild spells "video game" as one word).

For reference, we had the following to say about the stories in Alien, Left Behind and Unity:


  • Alien: Isolation: "Alien: Isolation goes on and on and on to the point of exhaustion and maximum contrivance, wrapping up subplots, and bringing closure to incidental characters you don't care about, long after its first 'ending.' Then there's another ending ... and another. There are worthwhile scenes throughout all of this, but it's a failure of editing and the story's composition to have the best ending come first."

  • The Last of Us: Left Behind: "From trying on masks in a spooky Halloween store to snapping photos in a miraculously-still-functional photo booth, their new objective is one of distraction. It's a reprieve, one The Last of Us' main campaign rarely offered. You accomplish simple things, but each new objective reveals a piece of their closeness and builds tension for the unavoidable conclusion to their day. [...] There's a moment in an arcade that is so wonderful I wouldn't dare spoil it."

  • Assassin's Creed: Unity: "His story – until the final third of the game – lacks gravitas or impact. Arno's tale is one of revenge for two murders, first his biological father and subsequently his adopted father. The problem is that the conflict between Assassin and Templar doesn't seem to line up with Arno's personal motives, and missions rarely feel connected to his quest. [...] The final third of the game tries to tie it all together, but most of the time it feels like Arno isn't really shaping the plot. The plot is happening to him."

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2015

2015 WRITERS GUILD AWARDS VIDEOGAME WRITING NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

Los Angeles and New York – The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for videogames during 2014. Winners will be honored at the 2015 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 14, at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VIDEOGAME WRITING

Alien: Isolation, Writers Dan Abnett, Dion Lay, Will Porter; SEGA

Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry, Lead Scriptwriter Jill Murray; Scriptwriter Melissa MacCoubrey; Story by Jill Murray, Hugo Giard, Wesley Pincombe; Ubisoft

Assassin's Creed: Unity, Story by Alexandre Amancio, Sylvain Bernard, Travis Stout; Scriptwriting Alexandre Amancio, Travis Stout, Russell Lees, Darby McDevitt, Ceri Young; Additional Scriptwriting Jeffrey Yohalem; Ubisoft

The Last of Us: Left Behind, Written by Neil Druckmann; Sony Computer Entertainment

Now in its eighth year, the WGA's Videogame Writing Award honors the best qualifying script from a videogame published in the previous year. To be eligible for WGA consideration, games must have been released between December 1, 2013 and November 30, 2014, and feature on-screen writing credit(s). Credited videogame writers must have been or must have applied to become members of the WGA Videogame Writers Caucus at the time scripts were submitted. Work that was not produced under WGA jurisdiction was also eligible for submission. Judging for the WGA Videogame Writing Award is conducted by panels comprised of Videogame Writers Caucus members and/or Writers Guild members active in videogame writing.

The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio, promotional, and graphic animation categories. The awards will be presented jointly at simultaneous ceremonies on Saturday, February 14, 2015, in Los Angeles at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza and in New York City at the Edison Ballroom.

For more information about the 2015 Writers Guild Awards, please visit www.wga.org or www.wgaeast.org.


[Image: SCEA]