'Uncharted' Director Amy Hennig To Be Honored With Lifetime Achievement Award at GDC 2019

Amy Hennig, a writer and director who made a name for herself in the industry via the Uncharted series, is poised to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award on March 20 during The Game Developers Choice Awards.

Hennig will join past winners of the award, such as Hideo Kojima, Peter Molyneux, and Shigeru Miyamoto, all of who have been recognized for their contributions to the industry. It's perhaps the most prestigious award a developer can ever acquire, and it certainly is one Hennig as earned as one of the best video game writers and directors of all-time.

Katei Stern, GM of the Game Developers Conference, provided the following accompanying statement for the announcement:

"Amy Hennig is a powerful figure in the game world; her work exemplifies what good game narrative can be, with pathos, humor, suspense and energy. She is truly one of the most influential developers in the games industry. These past accomplishments are just milestones in a career that we'll be following for years to come, but for one night at the GDCAs, we'll reflect on the hard work and artistry that makes game developers like Amy the heart of the industry."

For those that don't know: Hennig began her time in this industry in 1989 as an artist for ElectroCop by Atari Corporation. As an artist she continued on The Bard's Tale IV – which was eventually cancelled, and then 1992's Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf from Electronic Arts.

Then in 1994 she jumped from artist to designer with EA's Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City. It wasn't until 1999 that she earned her first writing credit though, with the release Legacy of Kain: Soul Rever, which she also was the director and producer of.

After eight years spent between Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Interactive, Hennig joined Sony Interactive's Naughty Dog and served as director of Jak 3. Then in 2007, she wrote and helped create the Uncharted series with the release of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. And it was via the Uncharted series that Hennig became one of the biggest names in the industry. She was involved in every main Uncharted project except for the last and most recent one: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. By the time Uncharted 4 came around, Hennig had already left Naughty Dog.

Since leave Naughty Dog, Hennig has served as a writer on Battlefield Hardline, and was most recently working with EA and Visceral Games on an untitled Star Wars game that was canceled last year.