Susanna Pollack, president of Games for Change, received GamesBeat’s Visionary Person of the Year award, and Amir Satvat received the Up-and-Comer Award. The awards were presented on May 19, 2026, during GamesBeat Summit in Los Angeles.
Winners of the 2026 Visionary Awards
| Award | Recipient | GamesBeat’s stated reason |
|---|---|---|
| Visionary Person of the Year | Susanna Pollack, president of Games for Change | GamesBeat credited her leadership in using interactive media for education, social impact and civic engagement, and cited the organization’s global growth and partnerships, including with the United Nations and UN agencies. |
| Up-and-Comer Award | Amir Satvat | GamesBeat cited his community service amid industry layoffs and instability, including mobilizing resources, building support networks and connecting game-industry professionals with new opportunities. |
These descriptions reflect GamesBeat’s account of why it selected the recipients, rather than an independent assessment of their work. GamesBeat’s June 2026 retrospective confirms the results.
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How the award categories differ
| Category | What it recognizes |
|---|---|
| Visionary Award | Demonstrated vision over a career in gaming. |
| Up-and-Comer Award | Someone whose accomplishments are still ahead of them. |
In its March 25, 2026 announcement, GamesBeat editorial director Dean Takahashi described the Visionary Award as recognizing “someone who has shown vision in their career in gaming.” He said the Up-and-Comer Award is “for someone whose accomplishments are ahead of them.”
The ceremony was the ninth Visionary Awards since 2018. The Up-and-Comer category began in 2020 and was in its seventh year in 2026. GamesBeat distinguishes these awards from its BOSS Mode awards, which recognize women in the games industry. The judging announcement names a panel of Sarah Bond, Rich Vogel, Don Daglow, Patricia Vance, Kahlief Adams, Meggan Scavio, Michael Pachter, Dean Takahashi, Elizabeth Olson and Sibel Sunar. GamesBeat says the judges vote on candidates and select recipients; it does not publish a detailed scoring rubric or explain a public nomination process.
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When and where the awards were presented
GamesBeat Summit 2026 took place in Los Angeles on May 18–19, with the awards ceremony on May 19. The Summit agenda scheduled the presentation from 4:30 to 5 p.m. It listed Larry Hryb as emcee, Leo Olebe as presenter of the Visionary Award and Richard Browne as presenter of the Up-and-Comer Award. The agenda identified Pollack and Satvat as the winners.
The event is over. Summit ticket holders could access the awards with an RSVP, according to the event’s official page and special-program information; those pages describe historical event access, not a current opportunity to attend.
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What GamesBeat reported about the Summit
GamesBeat’s event page reported 600+ attendees, 150+ speakers, 70% of attendees at director level or above, and 90% of speakers at C-level. These are organizer-reported figures for the 2026 event; the page does not provide independent auditing or underlying methodology. The same page characterized gaming as a “$200 billion industry,” without citing an underlying market study. See GamesBeat’s Summit page.
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