The Pégases, also known as the Pégases Award Ceremony, is the annual awards ceremony organized by the French Academy of Video Game Arts and Techniques to honor achievements in the French and international video game industry. The ceremony is held in the first or second week of March in Paris and awards titles released in the previous year as well as key figures of the industry.
The recipients each year are decided via a two-round vote system by the 3,000 members of the Academy, the vast majority of whom are industry professionals; the first round enabling the selection of nominees in each category, and the second, deciding the award winners. The first edition in 2020 was held at the Théâtre de la Madeleine, while the 2021 edition took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2022, the ceremony is held at La Cigale.
The most recent edition, Pégases 2026, was held on . Guard Crush Games and Supamonks''' Absolum topped the list of nominations, having been nominated in five categories, winning two of these accolades. Sandfall Interactive's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, nominated in four categories, won all four accolades, including the paramount award of "Best Video Game".
Background In June 2019, the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Jeu Vidéo (Academy of Video Game Arts and Techniques) was founded by the Syndicat National du Jeu Vidéo, the professional trade association that brings together French video game production and publishing companies, all organizations involved in production activities in France, and partners in video game development. This new entity's purpose would be to establish a national video game awards ceremony to reward and highlight creative works and talent in the French video game industry. These accolades were intended to mirror the César Awards presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, which honor excellence in the French film industry.
The main goal of the Pégases was to elevate the status of video games and to streamline the long-standing French tradition of various—and often competing—awards. By the time of its third edition in 2022, the ceremony had established itself as the sole major event of its kind in France. The Academy also sought to move away from the "César Awards of video games" identity in order to make the Pégases an event in its own right and highlight the contributions of video games to other fields.
The members of the Academy of Video Game Arts and Techniques are grouped into five colleges according to their profession in the video game industry; with a sixth honorary one made up of professionals who play an indirect role in video game production or who work in a field related to the medium. The colleges are:
"Technology College" : programming, technical direction, networking, IT, tools, etc.
"Visual and Audio College" : 2D/3D art and concept design, graphics, animation, video creation and cutscene production, sound design, etc.
"Design College" : game design, level design, scriptwriting and dialogue writing, etc.
"Management College" : production management, game direction, project management, etc.
"Publishing and Support College" : marketing, user acquisition, live operations, brand management, business development, etc.
"Honorary College" : journalists, educators, influencers/content creators, etc.
A Steering Committee consisting of one or two elected members from each college handles administration of the Academy and the preparation of the ceremony. The Academy is open to anyone, as long as they are a professional in the French video game industry, and membership is free.
Format As of 2025, the Pégases consists of 18 categories. Only games primarily developed in France are eligible for 13 of them, with 3 awards dedicated to honoring foreign video games ("Best Foreign Video Game", "Best Foreign Independent Video Game" and "Best Foreign Mobile Game"). The remaining 2 are honorary prizes awarded to individuals ("Person of the Year" and "Honorary Award").
The winners of these awards are presented with a Pégase, a trophy depicting one of the most famous creatures in Greek mythology, after which the ceremony is named ("Pégase" being the French cognate of Pegasus). The Pégase trophy is designed in France and crafted by the Macheret art foundry, a workshop officially labelled "Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant" (Living Heritage Company) by the French state for its artisanal expertise. It is made of bronze with a gold-plated finish and sits on a black lacquered resin base.
The Pégase for "Person of the Year" and the "Honorary Award" are presented to individuals for their contributions to the industry; the Honorary Award being bestowed to pay tribute to the entire career of a highly accomplished professional for example. The recipients of these two individual recognitions are decided by the Steering Committee specifically rather than the Academy as a whole.
As to the other 16 awards, participation is entirely voluntary. There is no preliminary screening. Game developers must register their game and select the specific categories (within the limits set by the rules) in which they wish to compete. The Academy then verifies that basic technical and administrative criteria are met (the release date, the percentage of French production for the categories that require it, etc.). Student teams or their schools must take the initiative to submit their application for the "Best Student Video Game" category.
About 80 to 120 video games are submitted every year by studios to the Academy of Video Game Arts and Techniques for the Pégases. Theareafter, each member of the Academy, of which there are roughly 3,000 as of 2025, votes for the candidate they deem the worthiest from the list of submitted titles in each category. A ballot is then created with the most nominated games (typically 3 titles per category). Nominations are announced in early February. The members subsequently vote in a second round to determine the winner among the three nominees. Each member’s vote in both rounds is secret to ensure privacy and foster integrity.
There is, however, one exception. While the Academy as a whole does vote to determine the nominees for "Best Student Video Game" in the first round, no second-round vote takes place for this category. It is the Steering Commitee that evaluates the nominated projects and determines the winning student team.
In 2022, the organization introduced a new rule to prevent any single game from winning more than five awards: with the exception of the so-called "queen categories" ("Best Video Game", "Best Independent Video Game" and "Best Mobile Game"), a title shall be submitted in no more than three categories. An "Audience Award" was bestowed in the 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions. The award for "Best Character" was replaced after the 2021 edition with the one for "Best Accessibility"; and the "Best Video Game Universe" award, with the Pégase'' for "Best Technological Innovation" following the 2022 edition.
During the ceremony, exclusive announcements of new games are made and never-before-seen trailers of upcoming games revealed.
Awards
2020 The 1st annual Pégases celebrated games released in 2019. The ceremony was held at Théâtre de la Madeleine on March 9, 2020. The hosts of the event were Salomé Lagresle and Emmanuel Levy.
A Plague Tale: Innocence – Asobo Studio Life Is Strange 2 – Don't Nod WRC 8 – Kylotonn / Bigben Interactive Night Call – Monkeymoon Crying Suns – Alt Shift Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom – Game Atelier / FDG Entertainment |- | valign="top" width="50%" | Dead Cells – Motion Twin Rayman Mini – Ubisoft Montpellier / Pastagames Tokotoko – Kalank | valign="top" width="50%" | Un Pas Fragile – Opal Games Night Call – Monkeymoon Unruly Heroes – Magic Design Studios |- | valign="top" width="50%" | Don't Look – CNAM-ENJMIN Aurore – CNAM-ENJMIN Toxic Pink! – Rubika | valign="top" width="50%" | Alt-Frequencies – Accidental Queens GreedFall – Spiders / Focus Home Interactive Life Is Strange 2 – Don't Nod |- | valign="top" width="50%" | A Plague Tale: Innocence – Asobo Studio GreedFall – Spiders / Focus Home Interactive The Wanderer: Frankenstein's Creature – La Belle Games / ARTE France | valign="top" width="50%" | A Plague Tale: Innocence – Asobo Studio Alt-Frequencies – Accidental Queens Life Is Strange 2 – Don't Nod |- | valign="top" width="50%" | Life Is Strange 2 – Don't Nod Night Call – Monkeymoon A Plague Tale: Innocence – Asobo Studio | valign="top" width="50%" | A Plague Tale: Innocence – Asobo Studio Alt-Frequencies – Accidental Queens Crying Suns – Alt Shift |- | valign="top" width="50%" | A Plague Tale: Innocence – Asobo Studio GreedFall – Spiders / Focus Home Interactive Life Is Strange 2 – Don't Nod | valign="top" width="50%" | A Plague Tale: Innocence – Asobo Studio Life Is Strange 2 – Don't Nod Un Pas Fragile – Opal Games |- | valign="top" width="50%" | Dead Cells – Motion Twin Frag Pro Shooter – Oh BiBi Just Dance 2020 – Ubisoft | valign="top" width="50%" | Metro Exodus – 4A Games Apex Legends – Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts |- | valign="top" width="50%" | Outer Wilds – Mobius Digital Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey – Panache Digital Games / Private Division Pikuniku – Sectordub / Devolver Digital | valign="top" width="50%" | Sayonara Wild Hearts'' – Simogo Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of Waterdeep – Ludia Lemmings: The Puzzle Adventure'' – Sad Puppy Jehanne Rousseau Yves Guillemot
2021 The 2nd annual Pégases celebrated games released in 2020. The ceremony was held virtually on March 17, 2021. The host of the event was Salomé Lagresle.
Microsoft Flight Simulator – Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios Tell Me Why – Don't Nod / Xbox Game Studios WRC 9 – Kylotonn / Nacon Haven – The Game Bakers There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension – Draw Me a Pixel Streets of Rage 4 – Lizardcube / Guard Crush Games / Dotemu |- | valign="top" width="50%" | Ordesa – Cinétévé Expérience Pango Bakery – Studio Pango SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit – Old Skull Games | valign="top" width="50%" | Shady Part of Me – Douze Dixièmes / Focus Home Interactive There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension – Draw Me a Pixel Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem – Wolcen Studio |- | valign="top" width="50%" | Symphonia – ISART Digital Aefen Fall – Studio 9.7 / Rubika Soul Weaver – New3dge | valign="top" width="50%" | Tell Me Why – Don't Nod / Xbox Game Studios Haven – The Game Bakers Shady Part of Me – Douze Dixièmes / Focus Home Interactive |- | valign="top" width="50%" | Microsoft Flight Simulator – Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios Othercide – Lightbulb Crew / Focus Home Interactive Paper Beast – Pixel Reef / Plug In Digital | valign="top" width="50%" | Streets of Rage 4 – Lizardcube / Guard Crush Games / Dotemu Double Kick Heroes – Headbang Club Haven – The Game Bakers |- | valign="top" width="50%" | Tell Me Why – Don't Nod / Xbox Game Studios Haven – The Game Bakers There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension – Draw Me a Pixel | valign="top" width="50%" | There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension – Draw Me a Pixel Paper Beast – Pixel Reef / Plug In Digital ScourgeBringer – Flying Oak Games / Dear Villagers |- | valign="top" width="50%" | Paper Beast – Pixel Reef / Plug In Digital Haven – The Game Bakers Tell Me Why – Don't Nod / Xbox Game Studios | valign="top" width="50%" | Haven – The Game Bakers Shady Part of Me – Douze Dixièmes / Focus Home Interactive Tell Me Why – Don't Nod / Xbox Game Studios |- | valign="top" width="50%" | Microsoft Flight Simulator – Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios Just Dance 2021 – Ubisoft WRC 9 – Kylotonn / Nacon | valign="top" width="50%" | Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios Iron Harvest – King Art Games / Deep Silver Yakuza: Like a Dragon – Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio / Sega |-