When Todd Howard took the stage at Bethesda’s first E3 press conference in June 2015, the atmosphere was electric. Fallout 4 had just been announced, and Howard was about to show it to press and a worldwide audience of fans via livestream.

Fallout 4 is only the latest ambitious role-playing game led by Howard, who has been with with Bethesda since 1994. At GDC this year, his contributions to the industry will be honored with a lifetime achievement award.

Since his first design credit at the studio working on The Terminator: Future Shock (also the first PC 3D shooter with mouse look), he went on to play an integral role in The Elder Scrolls franchise. Howard holds the rare distinction of developing three consecutive game of the year winners in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

This honor was chosen by an advisory committee including Julien Merceron (Bandai Namco and formerly of Konami), John Vechey (Pluto VR and Popcap co-founder), Bob Rafei (Big Red Button), and Caryl Shaw (Telltale). The award will be presented on Wednesday, March 16, at 6:30 p.m. during the GDC Awards.

For more on the GDC Awards, check out our previous coverage.