The annual Game Developers Conference is one of the most prestigious events in gaming. Unlike expos like E3, where publishers arrive to make announcements and showcase their new products, GDC has a more educational aim, with panels from top developers teaching the finer points of their craft. GDC is also home to an awards show that honors the most esteemed, creative, and important games of the year, as well as the people behind them.

Today, organizers announced that at the 18th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, three men would be given the event’s top honors: Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail will receive the Ambassador Award; Double Fine founder Tim Schafer gets the Lifetime Achievement Award; and Atari founder Nolan Bushnell will receive the Pioneer Award. “Nolan Bushnell helped guide Atari to becoming a dominating force in the video game world,” the award announcement reads. But the decision to highlight Bushnell in the wake of movements like #MeToo and Time’s Up has sparked backlash online, with industry professionals pointing out numerous reports of inappropriate sexual comments and behavior by Bushnell, particularly in the early days of Atari.

In a 2011 interview, former Atari exec Ray Kassar recalls arriving on his first day in a suit, only to find Bushnell wearing a T-shirt that said ”I love to fuck.” In a Playboy profile from 2012, Bushnell wistfully recalls the “wild environment” of the ‘70s Atari era. “It was post–flower revolution, women’s liberation, no AIDS yet, and lots of company romances.” It also describes how the engineers at Atari codenamed their projects after attractive female employees; “Darlene,” the codename for the home version of Pong, was inspired by a woman who Bushnell described to Playboy as “stacked.”

Steven L. Kent’s 2001 book The Ultimate History of Video Games describes how much Bushnell liked to have “fun” at work — sometimes, a very sexually aggressive form of fun — and “made sure that the men around him agreed with his philosophy.” They “held meetings in hot tubs, drank heavily, experimented with drugs... Sometimes Atari board meetings seemed more like fraternity parties than business meetings.”

The book also quotes Pong designer Al Alcon, who describes one such meeting. “Nolan needed some papers and documents so he called his office and said, ‘Have Miss so and so bring them up.’ We were in this tub [when she arrived], so he proceeded to try to get her in the tub during the board meeting. Nolan’s attorney was miffed [because] we got his papers wet. He was not in the hot tub and he was not amused by any of this. That was the sort of fun we had.”

2/ Atari held board meetings in a hottub. There, the board would invite the women employees they wanted to have sexual with up to the suite, and pressure them to strip naked with the men.



This is by Mr. Bushnell’s own admission in the book “Ultimate History of Videogames.” — Brianna Wu (@Spacekatgal) January 30, 2018

After the announcement by GDC, game developer and US House of Representatives candidate Brianna Wu tweeted her concerns, calling the award “wildly inappropriate with the #metoo movement” in a longer thread highlighting the problems with Atari’s culture at the time. “Bushnell is an important figure. But this isn’t the year to honor him,” she concluded.

Other developers have voiced their concerns on Twitter. “So many journalists kept trying to dig out our MeToo stories in the past months,” Opaque Space game design lead Jennifer Scheurle said. “This one is out there in plain sight, in a book for everybody to read. You don’t have to dig hard for it, Nolan Bushnell’s inappropriate behaviour towards women is no secret — and we give him awards.”

Gillian Smith, an assistant professor of computer science at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, tweeted that she hopes the decision will be reversed. “While other industries are distancing themselves from the abusive and sexist behaviors of powerful men, GDC is giving a pioneer award to one of them,” Smith said.

“UMB: don’t give the Pioneer award to anyone this year,” tweeted designer Elizabeth Sampat. “Or rather, award it symbolically to all of the women who built this industry and are no longer here, in large part due to men like this.”

Bushnell is often called the “father of the video game industry“ for his accomplishments, from the creation of the first arcade video game, Computer Space, to co-founding Atari, one of the most prolific and influential game companies of all time. His contributions also go beyond the gaming industry and include the founding of family entertainment center Chuck E. Cheese and involvement in one of the first Silicon Valley incubators, Catalyst Technologies.

But the challenge of the #MeToo movement requires recognition not just of harassers, predators, or contributors to an otherwise toxic culture of sexism. It also requires the difficult reconciliation that talented people are capable of deplorable actions, and that being likable or successful does not mean that even key industry figures aren’t capable of exhibiting behavior that affects the overall culture and drives women in their industry away.

Although many industries, from Hollywood to media, have had their “me too” moments highlighting the predatory or sexist behavior of prominent men, video games has not, despite the industry’s long and checkered history as an often hostile space for women. But GDC’s decision to highlight Bushnell — undoubtedly an important figure in the history of games — may bring that uncomfortable conversation to the fore. Asked for comment, a GDC representative told The Verge by email that the conference and nominating committees had not known about the reports of Bushnell’s behavior, “but will look at these more closely.”

Update January 31, 11:40AM: Organizers announced that they are rescinding plans to give Bushnell the Pioneer Award.

“The Game Developers Choice Awards Advisory Committee, who vote on the Special Award Winners for each show, have made the decision not to give out a Pioneer Award for this year’s event, following additional feedback from the community,” the official GDC account announced today on Twitter. “They believe their picks should reflect the values of today’s game industry and will dedicate this year’s award to honor the pioneering and unheard voices of the past.”