While video games as an artistic medium have grown more socially and culturally accepted, they have yet to fully reach the level of high art esteem that film is regarded with. While video games are recognized with major award organizations and shows like BAFTA and The Game Awards, these are hardly regarded on the level that the Academy Awards are. While some game industry members like Josef Fares are quite infamously vocal about not wanting to be the Oscars, one gaming group has made a crucial step forward for the medium. A Respawn Entertainment VR documentary has won a Oscar, making Respawn the first gaming company to win an Academy Award.

As reported by Game Informer, the Respawn Entertainment VR documentary titled Colette has won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film. The documentary was made alongside a series of similar short film projects created for Respawn’s Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond VR game. The game has players control an OSS agent and member of the French resistance in World War II in first person shooter-based gameplay. The game’s gallery feature allowed players to unlock the documentaries compiled by Respawn and VR tech company Oculus for the project, including Colette. In regards to the Oscar win, Respawn’s Creative Director Peter Hirschmann released the following statement:

We could not be more proud of Anthony Giacchino and the team’s work in bringing Colette’s story to life as part of Medal of Honor, a video game franchise rooted in history and the retelling of veterans’ stories to generations for years to come. As we continue to take steps towards further legitimizing the creativity and passion of those in the games industry, we hope this is the first of many Oscars for video game companies who have shown time and time again how powerful and impactful storytelling through this interactive medium can be.”

The Colette documentary shows former French Resistance fighter Colette Marin-Catherine returning to Germany, and the concentration camp where her brother was executed by Nazi forces, after spending 74 years away from the country. Given the short film’s serious tone and high quality cinematography, Respawn submitted it to several film festivals, where it won many awards and eventually led to this most recent achievement. The little Respawn Entertainment VR film that could seems like it will be the first big step gaming takes towards acceptance in the highest forms of cinema. Here’s hoping that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has a shot at Best Picture.

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