CALABASAS, Calif., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has announced that Bruce Shelley will be the 12th inductee into the Academy's Hall of Fame. Shelley is the preeminent game designer, who assisted Sid Meier in bringing the award winning Civilization and Railroad Tycoon to the world, and later the Age of Empires strategy games with Ensemble Studios. These games have long been considered some of the greatest games of all time.

PC Gamer named Shelley one of the 25 Game Gods in 1999, and in 2002 Game Spy named him the 8th most influential person in gaming.

The Hall of Fame Award will be presented by Tony Goodman, founder of Ensemble Studios, at the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards(R), hosted by actor, comedian and avid video game player Jay Mohr, which will take place during the 2009 D.I.C.E. Summit on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.

As one of the organization's highest honors, candidates are annually voted on by the Academy's prominent Board of Directors, on which Bruce Shelley served from 2000-2006. Induction into the Hall of Fame is bestowed upon individuals who've contributed a significant advancement within the industry while demonstrating proven success and leadership.

Bruce Shelley has been collecting board games his whole life, and estimates he has over 500. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry simultaneously, and then studied economics in graduate school at the University of Virginia. But his interest in games won out over academics.

In 1980 he joined friends from the UVA game club to form a role-playing game company called Iron Crown Enterprises, acquiring the license to make games based on The Lord of the Rings. After a brief period at Simulations Publications in New York, Avalon Hill became his next stop, where he designed a variety of games including 1830 and Titan.

In 1988 Shelley made the transition to computer games, joining Microprose. After working on a variety of projects, including F-19 Stealth Fighter, he was assigned to work with Sid Meier as his producer/assistant designer. They collaborated on Railroad Tycoon, Covert Action and Civilization. Civilization was one of the most important marks in the videogame industry when it was released in 1991.

In 1995 while freelance writing, having five strategy guides published, Shelley joined another friend from the UVA game club, Tony Goodman, who had just started Ensemble Studios. Shelley helped the new studio establish its development processes and principles, and created the hugely successful Age of Empires series, which to date has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. He has traveled the world acting as a spokesman for Ensemble Studios and its games, and as a guest speaker at numerous conferences.

Tony Goodman states, "Bruce has always been at the center of the gaming universe. He sprang onto the scene at Avalon Hill and SPI designing board games that would become the models for modern video games. He was a central figure at Microprose working on one of the most defining products of the industry's early years, and he was the Godfather of Ensemble Studios presiding over the Age of Empires, which is one of the most influential franchises of today's mature videogame industry."

Ensemble Studios is a Microsoft owned development studio, and has Halo Wars coming out in 2009.

Shelley will join an elite group of 11 other interactive entertainment industry luminaries in the AIAS Hall of Fame: Trip Hawkins (Electronic Arts), Peter Molyneux (Lionhead Studios), Yu Suzuki (Sega), Will Wright (Maxis), John Carmack (id Software), Hironobu Sakaguchi (Square Enix), Sid Meier (Firaxis Games), Shigeru Miyamoto (Nintendo), Richard Garriott (origin Systems), Dan/Danielle Bunten Berry (Ozark Landscape), and Michael Morhaime (Blizzard Entertainment).

Mr. Shelley humbly states, "I am deeply honored to receive this award. I believe it also honors my colleagues over the years at Microprose and especially Ensemble Studios, from whom I have learned so much. I am very grateful for the opportunities that have come my way and hope that in return I have given something back to this great industry."

About the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences:

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) was founded in 1996 as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of the interactive arts. The Academy's mission is to promote and advance common interests in the worldwide interactive entertainment community; recognize outstanding achievements in the interactive arts and sciences; and conduct an annual awards show (Interactive Achievement Awards) to enhance awareness of the interactive art form. The Academy also strives to provide a voice for individuals in the interactive entertainment community. In 2002 the Academy created the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit, a once yearly conference dedicated to exploring approaches to the creative process and artistic expression as they uniquely apply to the development of interactive entertainment. The Academy also oversees Into The Pixel, a juried exhibition of art from games, and this year started the Randy Pausch Scholarship fund for students in the games industry. The Academy has more than 15,000 members from the games industry: publishers such as Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, as well as developers Bioware/Pandemic, Day One Studios, Epic Games and Insomniac Games. More information can be found at http://www.interactive.org and http://www.dicesummit.org

About the Interactive Achievement Awards:

The Interactive Achievement Awards(R) are the only peer-based awards that recognize the year's best video games, computer games, online entertainment, outstanding individuals and groundbreaking development teams that have propelled the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry. The awards presented by the AIAS are determined by a vote of field-specific, qualified Academy members, making the Interactive Achievement Awards the most sought-after, respected and credible recognition for creators of entertainment software.

SOURCE Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences