New York Game Awards

The New York Game Awards is an annual award show honoring video games by nonprofit New York Videogame Critics Circle (NYVGCC). The first awards were held in 2012, honoring previous year's contributions to the video game industry and showcases the group's education work with underserved communities. New York Videogame Critics Circle's stated goals are to promote awareness of, and education for, video games writing and journalism in the New York City area.

The New York Videogame Critics Circle (NYVGCC) was founded in 2011 by writer Harold Goldberg, along with inaugural members Evan Narcisse, Tracey John, Russ Frushtick, and Andrew Yoon. Goldberg received more attention than expected from his book All Your Base Are Belong to Us (2011), including game and film offers. He decided to create an advocacy group in New York, a region he felt was disadvantaged due to its distance from the West Coast. The NYVGCC was created to advocate for its members, and provides classes and mentoring to underserved portions of the New York City community. Its stated goals are to promote awareness of, and education for, video games writing and journalism in the New York City area.

Beginning in 2012, the NYVGCC has hosted an annual awards show that distributes trophies to game studios, individual game contributors, and game journalists. The first awards show was held in 2012 as a collaboration with New York University's Game Center. Since then, the NYVGCC has held annual award ceremonies and has incorporated live music, trailer premieres, and hosting by members of The Daily Show writing staff. Work on the ceremonies begins in February, shortly after the preceding show, and escalates more after Labor Day in September.

In 2019, former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé joined the NYVGCC's board of directors to help Goldberg and the group continue its outreach to the DreamYard Prep School, and new initiatives such as classes in Bronxworks network of homeless shelters. In July 2023, Ryan O'Callaghan replaced Goldberg as the board's executive director, while Goldberg remains president.

The First Annual New York Games Awards took place on February 2, 2012, at New York University's Cantor Film Center. 21 games journalists voted on the award winners, and about 250 guests attended. Logan Cunningham, narrator of Bastion, served as the host. The livestream received roughly 300 views.

The Second Annual New York Game Awards were held at NYU-Poly on February 5, 2013. Writer Daniel Radosh of The Daily Show hosted the event, and musical acts MC Frontalot and Schäffer the Darklord performed.

The Third Annual New York Game Awards were hosted by Daniel Radosh for the second year in a row. Folk music group Future Folk performed, and Irrational Games premiered a video about the second episode of BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea.

In 2015, the New York Game Awards switched venues and took place at Villain, an event space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The awards show routine was written and hosted by The Daily Show's writing staff.