First Game to Qualify for an Oscar

Video games as an entertainment medium rarely receive mainstream recognition. This appears to be changing however as recently released video game "Everything" got nominated for an Academy Award. It is the first game in history to qualify for an Oscar nomination.

Everything is a simulation based game and was released on the 21st of April.

The game won the Jury Prize for Animation at the Oscar-qualifying Vienna Shorts Festival for its 11 minute short film that serves as a trailer for the game.

In the released Jury Statement for the Jury Prize in Animation the game trailer was described as,

“a film, which beyond being entertaining has a strong poetic and philosophical theme. It serves a highly educational purpose, including an important political statement, that encourages to let our egos dissolve and gain a new perspective on the world.”

The win allows Everything to automatically be submitted for the long-list in category of Best Animated Short Film at the next Academy Awards.

Everything is a game that demonstrates how everything in nature is interconnected. The promo video is overdubbed with a speech from Alan Watts a renowned British philosopher. Alan Watts was best known for popularizing and interpreting Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. The game also features an original three hour score from Ben Lukas Bovsen.

Everything was created by Irish film maker and artist David O'Reilly, who is perhaps best known in the gaming community for creating the simulation Mountain. According to the game's website, Everything can be described as “an open ended interactive experience and reality simulation.” The game allows the player to take control of everything they can see, from infinite galaxies, animals, plants and even atoms. 

The qualification of Everything for the prestigious Academy Awards shows that video games can compete with traditional mediums such as film and television.

Video games have for several years been dominating more traditional media. In 2008 global headlines were made when the immensely popular game Grand Theft Auto IV gained the title of the most successful entertainment release in history.

In 2008 on the 29th of April GTA IV grossed $310 million in Britain within 24 hours. The most successful book and film at the time for comparison were Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows and Spider Man 3. The book Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows grossed $220 million. The film Spider Man 3 made $117 million.

As for Oscar qualifier Everything it may not even make it off the long list, but it certainly shows that video games are starting to finally be treated as a serious media.