The winners of the GamesBeat Summit 2025 Visionary and Up-and-Comer Awards

GamesBeat unveiled the winners of its eight annual Visionary Awards during the 2025 GamesBeat Summit event in Los Angeles.

The Visionary Award winner is Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) president Patricia Vance, and the Up-and-Comer winner is Strange Scaffold studio head Xalavier Nelson Jr.

GamesBeat editorial director Dean Takahashi started the Visionary Awards in 2018 to recognize industry leaders who took a daring, visionary approach to shaping the future of gaming, forging new paths that have mesmerized audiences and redefined the very nature of video games. Two awards are given every year: the Visionary Award and the Up-and-Comer award. This year’s ceremony was hosted by Andrea Rene, president of Shortie Media and former executive producer of What’s Good Games.

The winners were chosen by a panel of judges from all across the industry, including Xbox president Sarah Bond, Women-Led Games founder Charmaine Duff, and veteran developer John Smedley ...