The accolades for Rockstar continue this month, following Leslie Benzies, Dan Houser, and Sam Houser being inducted into AIAS Hall of Fame last month. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced today that the company will be presented with the BAFTA Fellowship in a ceremony at the Tobacco Dock, London, next Wednesday, March 12th.

"It is hugely exciting to be able to recognise the amazing contribution made by Rockstar to the games industry over the past 16 years. The creativity and passion exhibited by the Rockstar teams have inspired a generation of game developers to raise the bar in every aspect of game development. From design and mechanics, through to storytelling, cinematics and audio immersion, and in the process creating games that compete so profoundly on a global stage across all entertainment media. Rockstar, this Fellowship is wholly deserved." - Harvey Elliott, Chair of BAFTA’s Games Committee

The award, which is the highest accolade bestowed by the Academy, is presented annually in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, TV or games. The accolade will be accepted on behalf of Rockstar by Sam Houser, Dan Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut, which will attend the event.

"We have long believed in the potential for videogames to become a new form of cultural expression and worked to show that in our games, so for us accepting the BAFTA Fellowship is incredibly humbling. [...] This honour reflects the creative vision and dedication of a huge number of people over many years, and we look forward to accepting the Fellowship on their behalf. - Sam Houser

Mirroring the words of Sam Houser, it is great to see videogames starting to be acknowledged at the same level as other entertainment forms. Rockstar has always been at the forefront of offering gaming experiences that go far beyond what anybody expects from a videogame; to the extent that a Rockstar game feels like a live-action blockbuster movie, which is a far cry from the point-click adventure that gaming started out as. Congradulations to Rockstar and the team on another well-deserved accolade, here's to many more!

Rockstar and the team join Gabe Newell of Valve, Will Wright of Maxis and EA, Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo, and Peter Molyneux of Bullfrog and Lionhead Studios, as those presented with the prestigious award.

Interested in watching the ceremony? It'll be streaming live online at Twitch.tv; be sure to tune in.