Remedy’s Sam Lake Will Receive The 2025 Andrew Yoon Legend Award At 2025 New York Game Awards

The next recipient of the Andrew Yoon Legend Award at the 2025 New York Game Awards will be Sam Lake, and we hope there will be a dance routine when he accepts the awards.

On Thursday, Nov.14, the NYVGCC announced that Sam Lake, the chief of Remedy Entertainment, would take home one of the night’s biggest honors during the annual award show.

Lake is the writer and creative director at Remedy Entertainment and is the man who gave us classics like 2001’s Max Payne, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Control, Alan Wake, and, most recently, Alan Wake 2.

Lake will follow previous Andrew Yoon Legend Award recipients, Neil Druckmann, Reggie Fils-Aimé, Phil Spencer, Tim Schafer, Jerry Lawson, Jade Raymond, Hideo Kojima, and other industry veterans.

Harold Goldberg Says It’s Honor To Celebrate Sam Lake

“What an honor it is to celebrate someone of Sam Lake’s caliber during the 14th annual New York Game Awards,” said Harold Goldberg, president and co-founder of NYVGCC. “You know a Remedy game when you see it, largely due to Sam Lake’s impact on the worlds he creates. It’s really cool to see how his 20-year career at Remedy has touched so many of our members and interns at the Circle, and we are thrilled to have him join the roster of esteemed game changers previously recognized with the Andrew Yoon Legend Award.”

“It’s not often that you see a video game studio deliver a superb sequel to a title a decade later, but it’s even rarer to see how it resonates with fans and spawns a whole connected universe comprised of its past franchises,” said Ryan O’Callaghan, executive director, NYVGCC. “I don’t think anyone expects anything less from someone like Sam Lake. He spoke with some of our students and interns a few weeks ago, and it was insightful to see where he draws his inspiration and the care that goes into crafting a video game. This will be a year to remember at the New York Game Awards.”

The Deets On The 2025 New York Game Awards

The 2025 New York Games Awards will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at the SVA Theatre in Manhattan. Circle President Harold Goldberg and former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé will again handle hosting duties. 

Tickets for the event are now on sale via Eventbrite. There are two options: $80 for reserved seats and $100 for access to the awards afterparty with free drinks.

The night will also help a great cause; proceeds from all ticket sales will go directly to ongoing educational programs provided by NYVGCC for 2025.

So, if you’re a gamer, aspiring video game journalist, or creator and you live in NYC, you definitely should be in the building. It’s always a great event.