Shuhei Yoshida is to be honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship

Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida is to be honoured with the prestigious BAFTA Fellowship.

The award, which is the highest accolade that can be bestowed by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, will be given to Yoshida at the BAFTA Games Awards on March 30.

Yoshida joined the PlayStation project in 1993, a year before the release of the original console.

He went on to become the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, now known as Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SIE).

Yoshida currently serves as head of SIE’s Independent Developer Initiative, where his role is to look after and nurture external, smaller independent studios.

The BAFTA Fellowship is given to those who accomplish “outstanding achievements in the art forms of the moving image”. The first recipient was Alfred Hitchcock, who was given the honour in 1971.

Other recipients have included Charlie Chaplin, David Attenborough, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorcese.

In 2007, the Fellowship was given to a member of the games industry for the first time, with SimCity and The Sims creator Will Wright receiving the accolade.

Since then, other video game recipients have included Shigeru Miyamoto (the first Asian citizen to receive the award), Hideo Kojima, Nolan Bushnell, Peter Molyneux, Gabe Newell, David Braben, John Carmack, Tim Schafer, Siobhan Reddy and Rockstar Games as a whole.

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In a statement, Yoshida said: “Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with incredibly talented teams who’ve developed some of the best games in the industry.

“I’ve always celebrated alongside these developers as their games have received well-deserved awards – it is an amazing honour for me to receive an accolade of my own.”

BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip added: “Shuhei Yoshida is a pioneer in the games world and is hugely deserving of a BAFTA Fellowship.

“His collaborative, supportive approach continues to drive progress within the industry, using his platform to promote the voices and craft of others and champion the work of independent designers, studios and creatives. We look forward to honouring his contribution to games at the ceremony on Thursday, March 30.”