Earning an award is just the beginning. Sometimes years can pass from the moment of recognition of merit to the actual presentation of the award.
After 25 years, the award found its hero – in past years, the BAFTA award was received not by the creators, but by a certain representative of the Take-Two company.
Sound producer of Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 Paul Bennan remembers what it was like:
“We went to the ceremony and I see this dude from [marketing] come up and say ** ******* talking about how wonderful they are and what a wonderful job they did on the game.
First of all, I don't know who the hell you are. Secondly, I've never heard of you. Thirdly, I already said that I have never heard of you? Fourthly, you have nothing to do with what you are claiming. None at all.”
Paul himself was able to quickly resolve the issue and received the award, but his colleague Blair Reno did not. For a long time, he was completely unaware that the award was being given specifically for his achievements:
“As far as I remember, someone in the office told me, ‘GTA London has won an award,’ but they didn’t give me any details. It was only years later that I found out what the award was and how significant it was. [Since then] I have tried many times to get any information about it, but I have never been pointed in the ‘right direction’ or given the opportunity to make an official request.”
TIme Extensions took notice of the story and tried to restore justice:
“In total, it took us 17 months before we were able to get a coherent answer from BAFTA, and at first they refused us. But after Reno intervened and passionately defended his point of view, the question was “raised to the vote.”
In the end, we managed to get the statuette (the stand is not yet available — it is on the way), but Renault is already celebrating this “victory in the battle” for the award.
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/6sVtlZJFbF0
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Cover by: Rocsktar Games. Image source: glitchwave.com