Game developer Rieko Kodama will receive this year's Pioneer Award at the 19th annual Game Developers Choice Awards.

Kodama will be recognized for her contributions to the game industry during a career spanning more than three decades, including work on some of SEGA's most beloved classics, such as Phantasy Star, Alex Kidd, and Skies of Arcadia.

Kodama began her professional career at SEGA in 1984. Her debut game was Champion Boxing for the SG-1000. She also worked on arcade games such as SEGA Ninja and Quartet before moving to the SEGA Mark III, also known as the Master System outside Japan, where she contributed background designs to Alex Kidd in Miracle World and served as lead designer and artist for Phantasy Star.

Kodama also contributed art to games such as Altered Beast, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, and Sonic the Hedgehog. During the 1990s and 2000s, she was director of Magic Knight Rayearth for Sega Saturn and producer of Deep Fear for Sega Saturn and Skies of Arcadia for Dreamcast. With three and a half decades of game development, Kodama produced the 7th Dragon series for Nintendo DS, 3DS, and PSP. More recently, she produced the classic-game conversions in the SEGA AGES line for Switch.

GDC called Kodama a “pioneering artist, director, and producer” who built her career at a time when female game designers were rare and less recognized.

“The Game Developers Choice Awards were conceived as a way to recognize the often under-recognized genius and dedication of game developers throughout history, and this year's award honors a figure who helped pave the way for countless game creators to follow,” said Katie Stern, general manager of the Game Developers Conference. “After decades devoted to developing some of SEGA's most indelible classics, Kodama-san could easily rest on her laurels, but she has dedicated herself to creating games that transcend genres and generations and give us countless hours of joy. This award is a ‘thank you’ to Kodama-san and to all the creators who work hard to achieve greatness.”

The Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony will take place on March 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Moscone Center during the 2019 Game Developers Conference.