‘The Game Announcements’ is what this year’s The Game Awards should have been called. For an event that gamers, as well as developers, and even casual audiences alike have waited for a literal year, it turned out to be a massive disappointment, and not because of the awards themselves.
Geoff Keighley, the host, creator, and producer of the live event, presided over an evening where the spotlight shone brightly yet briefly on its winners. Everything about how this year’s Game Awards were run, especially in regards to the acceptance speeches, which are typically a moment for heartfelt thanks and reflection, was shameful.
For those who can recall last year’s event, Christopher Judge, the man behind the voice of Kratos in God of War, gave a lengthy speech, spending over eight minutes on the stage. This time around, it felt like the show’s producers were overcompensating in the other direction.
When the winners were announced and walked up to the stage to accept their awards, the producers pushed to keep their speeches short with an orchestrated nudge that signified their time was up. In fact, when the developer for the Best Debut Indie Game was called up, she looked unsure if she was even allowed to speak.
Probably due to the flack The Game Awards received, Keighley took to Twitter to acknowledge the mistakes that were made, saying, “By the way – I do agree that the music was played too fast for award winners this year, and I asked our team to relax that rule as the show went on. While no one was actually cut off, it’s something to address going forward.”
Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! “No one was actually cut off?” Is Keighley having a stroke, or does he imagine that all the award winners had pithy speeches planned ahead of time? The winners were essentially given less than 60 seconds on stage.
Sure, you might be able to get in a brief thank-you within this time, but that duration hardly allows anyone to express the depth of emotion and gratitude typically associated with such an honor. To make matters worse, Keighley’s apology wasn’t sincere, given that his choice of words seemed to deflect responsibility to his team, as if he wasn’t involved in the decision to cut short the time allocated to winners.
Why industry figures and celebrities like Hideo Kojima and Anthony Mackie were given more stage time compared to award winners in some categories that were simply mentioned in passing makes no sense.
In a year where developers feel like they’ve been undervalued with a wave of layoffs, The Game Awards should have been the perfect platform to truly show our appreciation and recognition for their hard work. After all, isn’t that the point of an awards show?
This message goes to every developer in the gaming community, regardless of whether you won an award or received a nomination: thank you for your unwavering dedication to bringing us unforgettable memories every year. We truly appreciate you all.
