Valve's Gabe Newell is to have his contribution to the games industry recognised with the Fellowship award, an honour given in "recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to games." The award is to be handed out by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) at their annual awards evening.
Newell is to follow innovators such as Peter Molyneux, Shigeru Miyamoto and Will Wright, who have all received this award in previous years.
The awards evening is to take place on March 5 in London. On hearing that he was receive the award, Newell commented: "It is an honour for myself and everyone at Valve to be presented such an award by one of the world's most respected and recognised organisations."
"Valve owes a tremendous thanks to many in the UK - to those who have played our games, to the great support of the UK press, and to UK-based creative contributors such as Garry Newman. I look forward to accepting this prestigious honor on behalf of everyone in our community."