The Game Awards is an annual live event that celebrates the most outstanding video games of the year. This year’s event, held on Dec. 7, drew in more than 100 million viewers and brought many exciting announcements for the gaming community, however, it also spawned much controversy about its quality and use of airtime.
In previous years The Game Awards were criticized by many for its steadily increasing runtime. This year’s presentation lasted over three and a half hours with the majority being dedicated to ad space for new games. This situation was exacerbated by the collapse of E3, the world’s largest gaming convention, and the vacuum left in its place. Many however, also criticized this year’s selection of trailers for its lack of diversity in studios and themes. It begs the question on whether the show should feature game trailers at all or how it should be handled in the future.
Another widely discussed topic were the winners of the event. Larian studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 won six awards, sweeping both the coveted Game Of The Year and Players Choice trophies. This sweep sparked vicious debates between players over the nominees considering other long-awaited sequels like Legend of Zelda, Tears of the Kingdom, and Spider Man 2. But by looking back to the release of Baldur’s Gate in August, we can see just why Baldur’s Gate deserved GOTY.
At its release Baldur’s Gate also received its fair share of controversy. It was highly regarded for its quality and Larian Studios’ excellent community support. It had almost none of the infamous failures of games like Cyberpunk 2077 and delivered a complete and beautiful product with hundreds of hours of gameplay and no microtransactions, all for an industry standard price. Many took to social media upon its release to rave about its successes and tout it as a new standard for game development. This opinion was not shared by all, however. Many other gaming developers claimed BG3 was too extraordinary to be held as the new standard.
With the game’s only criticism being that it was “too good,” it only made sense for it to win the ultimate prize. However, with a year of gaming stacked with so many great titles, it’s understandable why people were disappointed and critical of the Game Awards’ choices.
One drawback from the show were the shortened speeches. Even the event’s biggest winner received a request to “Please Wrap It Up,” during their heartfelt memorial to a passed friend. Viewers can only hope the event grows and changes for the better by placing a greater focus on the community, award winners and indie developers.
Overall, The Game Awards has proved itself a cornerstone of the gaming community. As a community we need a space to gather and share our love for the industry and developers. Video games mean so much to so many people. And I only hope that will spread.
