NHN Corp., the nation’s leading Internet portal operator, hosted its literature awards ceremony in Seoul on Thursday to foster creative talent shedding light on the genre.

NHN Game Literary Award, an annual event taking place for the third time, was presented to 24 teams of awardees this year, including grand-prix winner Lee Byung-ha, whose work was chosen from a total of 1,500 long and short game scenarios.

“At first we were unsure whether we could carry on, but now we see that the game literature genre has settled in its place,” said Chris Lee, head of NHN game division. “We will do what we can to find and support new talent.”

He also said that the number of submitted works had tripled since last year, underscoring the fact that people have turned their focus from rule-abiding play to story-telling, or the narrative part of the game.

“Game literature will become the driving force to elevate the socially undervalued game to a higher state (of art),” said Lee In-hwa, chief judge and professor of the digital media department at Ewha Womans University.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)