Was that the weirdest The Game Awards yet or what?
Before you gather your pitchforks, keep in mind that I am one man trying to make sense of what just happened. Don’t get me wrong, the overall event is well-produced, but there’s just something missing. Something off.
As Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sweeps every category it's in, we’re all left wondering what Geoff Keighley’s ‘big reveal’ is. We’ve got industry giants like Hideo Kojima, Todd Howard, and even Doug Bowser in the audience. There must be something at play here, right?
The Game Awards’ Odd Pacing with World Premieres
The first bombshell premiere was Casey Hudson’s new Star Wars: The Old Republic game. It was massive news for sci-fi nerds who grew up with Knights of the Old Republic and old BioWare games like Mass Effect. After that, anticipation for more major reveals was growing. The Game Awards have just begun.
The next order of business was unveiling what the cryptic statue was all about. Everyone was talking about it for days, claiming it to be Diablo or even Dante’s Inferno. Chronically online people aren’t surprised by the Divinity reveal, but those who don’t stare at their phones and computers all day were likely surprised for another Larian game to hit the market.
Then the pacing went all over the place. Major reveals like the Control sequel and Frictional Games' Ontos were bundled up together, and minor awards weren’t given the proper showcase they deserved. Titles like the two upcoming Tomb Raider games stole the show. Finally, we got the long-awaited Leon reveal in Requiem, which, admittedly, is completely obvious.
Perhaps the craziest reveal at this year’s The Game Awards was reserving the final slot for a brand new IP from former Titanfall and Apex Legends devs. Highguard was the biggest game reveal before The Game Awards Orchestra. And it was... bizarre.
Pacing could’ve been better if the producers or Mr. Keighley had saved the Divinity reveal during this timeslot, or maybe showcased the first set of the Tomb Raider game. A hero-shooter, while interesting, wasn’t the best choice there. After that reveal, Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 claimed its Game of the Year crown.
An Anticlimactic Finale
Then the show just ended. ‘That’s it?’ I muttered loudly in the Discord channel where my friends and I were watching together. I know I’m completely filled with copium, expecting something like Half Life 3 to end the show, but a free-to-play hero shooter as a final coup de grace for this year’s premiere video game showcase? That wasn’t it. Matan Even’s ridiculous interruption at 2022’s The Game Awards was more interesting than that.
Maybe it’s me being nitpicky when it comes to The Game Awards, but Geoff has set himself up as gaming’s ‘World Premiere’ guy, where big studios hand him a USB drive filled with trailers for next year’s biggest games. I expected that the show would be a rollercoaster of gaming reveals. A balance between indie games and AAA titles that’s set to arrive next year. I was disappointed to see how all that hype felt like a puff of smoke after Miss. Piggy’s performance.
Geoff Keighley is a born showman, that’s for sure. He has built The Game Awards brand for all gamers to enjoy and celebrate. And while I mumble and rant about its awkward pacing, at the end of the day, The Game Awards was still all about video games, aside from the Muppet cameos (which are still great, by the way).
Looking Ahead to Next Year
I’m not saying I could do a better job of organizing the biggest gaming event of the year, but there are a few suggestions that’ll make viewers (like me) less disappointed.
Next year’s The Game Awards needs to space the big games and not bundle them up together. Ease down on the celebrity cameos and focus more on the developers behind the games. Sandfall Interactive’s staff clearly had more to say with their speeches, but we all know the extra minutes are expensive. Maybe put a stage for some of the minor categories, like Best Fighting Game and Games for Impact.
I’ll say this again: I enjoy every year of The Game Awards. I don’t care if it has zero mention of a Bloodborne Remaster or Kingdom Hearts 4, but it’s time to stop pretending this is the premiere event for big gaming reveals. Companies have their own showcases already. Geoff has done a great job of keeping expectations in check, but silly old me still hopes to see something that breaks gaming headlines.
To be fair, I only have myself to blame for building up hype. But I feel like this has become a glaring issue with Geoff Keighley’s shows. He gave us World Premieres for Death Stranding and Monster Hunter Wilds. When you’ve been doing that kind of thing for too long, people always expect something.
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