The popularity of video games have been eclipsing other forms of entertainment for going on close to a decade and are celebrated on a worldwide scale. The Tribeca Film Festival looks to incorporate the genre as a part of their repertoire in the near future, as the institution looks to add a video game category to their ceremonies in New York City June 9-20th. The committee will officially recognize video games that "demonstrate artistic excellence in storytelling".

It wouldn't be the first time that video games would be a feature in Tribeca's work. Over the last 10 years, they have highlighted titles such as God Of War, League of Legends, Beyond Two Souls, What Remains of Edith Finch, and Firewatch. This move wouldn't be necessarily out of the blue, but perhaps an effort to remain relevant in terms of appeal. The video game industry by late 2019 made an estimated (US) $152.1 billion dollars worldwide, compared to movies, where the global box office was worth (US) $41 billion. For perspective, last year's blockbuster, Avengers Endgame, released in April made (US) $858,373,000 during its opening weekend. Grand Theft Auto V in 2013 pulled in $1 billion dollars in three days. And in 2019, GTA V (which is being ported to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X) garnered $595 million dollars in digital revenue alone. This factors in digital copies of the game, as well as in-game microtransactions. That is financial staying power, and developers know this.

“In the ten years since we first welcomed a game to Tribeca’s official program, we’ve seen an exciting convergence of games, film, and immersive experiences," said Jane Rosenthal, Tribeca Film Festival CEO and co-founder. "Where there was once a clear delineation between media, there is now a blurring of the lines – stories have become games and games have become stories.

Broad recognition for voices at the forefront of this ever-changing landscape is long overdue, and we intend to be a home for these creators whose incredible work should be celebrated."

Tribeca has reached out to prominent names and industry leaders to form an advisory board, sharing their expertise. Names like Game Awards producer Geoff Keighley, film maker Nia DaCosta, writer/producer/director Jon Favreau, co-founder of Electronic Arts Bing Gordon, creative director of Remedy Entertainment Sam Lake, Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima, and head of Halo Transmedia & Entertainment Kiki Wolfkill. 

Evolve with the times or get left behind. Since 2011, there's been many talks about whether or not video games are considered art. The commercial success of the medium, as well as Hollywood-style presentation for many stories like The Last of Us, has broadened their cinematic appeal aids in that conversation.

Early deadlines start October 30th, 2020 with a $40 entry fee. Official deadline is December 2 2020 with a $60 entry fee, and late entries in January 13th, 2021 with an $80 entry fee.