For the past 10 eld , The Game Awardshas struggled to perfect its secret convention . Geoff Keighley ’s annual blowout has always tried to blend a traditional prize show like the Oscars with an E3 press conference . That ’s historically led to sundry solution . Last year ’s show was especially a low point for the experiment , as accolade recipients were look sharp off stage as quickly as possible so as to squeeze in a deluge of eject gameplay trailers . As I left Los Angeles ’ Peacock Theater last year , I fear that it wasall downhill from here .
I walked away from this year ’s ceremony singing a very different melodic phrase . Keighley delivered what might have been the honest stage show he ’s organized since he became gaming ’s go - to event planner . The show delivered non - truncated speeches , dazzling melodic performance , and some truly show - intercept game reveals . It was an result build to prove that The Game Awards will be here for another 10 years , whether you like it or not .
Don’t wrap it up
It was tough to guess just how successful this year ’s ceremony would be heading into it , as the build - up was dotted with pain sensation points . Some were equivalence for the course , like a predictable nominee field that featuredpuzzling exclusionsin categories like Best Mobile Game and Best Sports / Racing Game . Others felt like long - standing problem with the show ’s data formatting reach a stewing gunpoint . That could be attend in this year ’s Players ’ Choice race , the show ’s fan - voted category . After a few round of elimination - vogue voting , the net five include three free - to - play gacha titles . That list includedGenshin Impact , a biz that has a history of incentivizing histrion to vote by dangling in - biz rewards in front of them , something that ’s ostensibly become standard practice for games like it . It was operose to shake the feeling that the awards part of the show was in some way compromise and that Keighley did n’t see that as much of a concern .
The more troubling sign really amount from what prize were n’t present at all . This year , The Game Awards softly turn off its yearly Future Class laurels , which previously honored “ inspire person who represent the bright , bold and inclusive future of video games . ” No conventional reason was give way for why the family was cut , but its timing raise question . It came one year after premature Future Class winners advocate Keighley toaddress Israel ’s war on Palestineat last year ’s ceremony — a request that come down on deaf ear . The slash was also notable considering that 2024 strike off a boost in online oil of vitriol and harassment aimed at the musical theme of diverseness in gaming . On a Earth’s surface read , Future Class ’ absence feel like Keighley trying to make out all controversy out of the show to placate even the worst worker in his massive interview .
All of this did n’t leave behind too much elbow room for optimism heading into Thursday ’s programme . The Game Awards ’ biggest problem has always been its inability to adequately respond to feedback . When criticism over its deficiency of time given to awards reached a fever tar in 2022 , the following year ’s ceremonial infamously responded by playing loudspeaker off stage even faster with a “ please wrap up it up ” message that ’s since become a meme .
And yet , 2024 ’s ceremony seemed to indicate that Keighleyislistening . The nearly four - hour - longsighted show felt like a course of instruction discipline , addressing several complaint without shaking up the data formatting too much . That started with the actual awarding . Unlike last twelvemonth , all winnersgot ample time to talk . The fear “ roll it up ” sign did not trigger at any stop during the show . The ceremony felt more human for it , as aroused speeches from the Godhead behind bothAstro BotandFinal Fantasy VII Rebirthmade for affecting show highlight .
That feeling was present throughout the show . While previous years have been hyper focussed on shocking trailer to return watercooler moments , Keighley accepted something that ceremony like the Oscars have long recognize : a good speech can be a viral moment . You could see that when Larian Studios ’ CEO Swen Vincke kick in an impassioned speech to exhibit this year ’s Game of the Year accolade . The moment , in which Vincke make the play industry to task on a identification number of theme like mass layoffs , beget one of the night ’s loudest standing ovation . It was the kind of memorable import that delimit laurels shows for decades , and something that The Game Awards has always hesitated to bear .
Several of the show ’s good moment watch that pattern . Keighley has long been pick apart for fail to use his platform to recognise labor issues in the video game industry . This class , he confront that feedback head on in a segment where he transparently admit that the show has n’t been able-bodied to figure out the veracious way to approach it . This year ’s solution was a newly established Game Changer award , which was presented to Amir Satvat . He was honored for his cause to help laid off developers determine employment via a resource that aggregate open jobs . Satvat received a standing ovation as he take the accolade and delivered the most moving spoken language in the show ’s 10 - yr history .
These are the legitimizing moments the show has urgently need more of . The ceremonial occasion has long been too hyper - focussed on keeping fan entertained , but at its heart , it ’s a show built to observe the the great unwashed who make games , not spiel them . By actually letting those voices express anger , joy , and optimism straight to their equal , it felt closer to a proper prize show .
Going big
Despite giving more clock time to Almighty , Keighley ’s No . 1 precedence was still spectacle . The show ’s output was more unsparing than ever , with confetti , pyrotechnics , and elaborate phase performances . While the show ’s over - the - top nature can be optic - rolling , the 2024 ceremony largely got it right . That was thanks in part to neat musical interlude that gave the show boost of muscularity in its juiceless spells . A consort appeared on stagecoach to lead a performance of a birdsong from the upcomingCivilization VII . Netflix went all out to promoteArcanewith an impassioned carrying out that included an appearance by Twenty One Pilots . And of course , the Game Awards Orchestra stole the show with its annual medley of medicine from each Game of the Year candidate .
Hollywood celebrities were still part of the mix too , though with mixed resultant . A shameful appearance from Harrison Ford got the crowd on its ft early on on and The Muppets ’ Statler and Waldorf get bountiful laugh for their scattered roast segments . Other segments draw on too long , like an extended drollery segment from Aaron Paul and Laura Bailey that was in all likelihood longer than any credence speech of the night . And others felt like distraction that were too loosely connected to video secret plan . Snoop Dogg took the stage to meet a new Sung and break out his classicGin and Juice , but that served almost exclusively as a promo for his new album ( Keighley try on his best to broadly connect it toFortniteafter , unconvincingly ) . While merriment , these second felt increasingly unnecessary considering that most of the biggest reactions of the night came from the crew cheering for game likeHelldivers 2 . The game themselves are celebrities for this hearing .
That was peculiarly evident in this year ’s selection of trailers , the show ’s bread and butter . Much has been tell about whether The Game Awards is anything more than a cosmic string of commercial message . I wo n’t reheat the argument because you likely know where you put up on it by now . What I will say is that if Keighleyiscommitted to making his show a money - making ad bobbin above all else , he made his best case ever for that access this year . This class ’s selection was a constant string of surprises , from the pre - show to the final “ one more thing . ”
The Witcher IVgot a thrilling cinematic trailer that have the crowd screaming early . That was followed by a shockingElden Ringmultiplayer spinoff . For most of the show , the hits kept coming , as little about the lineup leak in advancement . We saw revivals of classic franchises likeOnimushaandOkami . Naughty Dog , Ryu Ga Gotoku , andHazelightrevealed entirely Modern IPs that were pep up for as if they were major sequels . Even ongoing game likeHelldivers 2andTekken 8put in the extra effort to make their unexampled updates find grand .
The proportion of exciting announcements imply to enrapture the audience versus ones that just had enough money to pay off their means into the show felt much better than it did in 2023 . Every yr I ’ve attended the show , there ’s always needs a bit I ’ve dubbed “ trash time ” where I catch up on societal medium for a while inside the Peacock Theater as long trailers for gacha secret plan updates bring in a battle of Marathon . That trash prison term was importantly shorter this year , with the show only off a slump in its third minute . There ’s still room to curate , but the mass of the reveals did feel like they were pulled together and spaced out with viewers in thinker .
I ’ve long been critical of The Game Awards and I still am to a great extent . There is a genuine disconnection between watch developer urge for a more stable diligence where art is valued in the same breath as apotentially AI - ridden trailerfor a game that was capable to pay its way onto the broadcast . This is still a show that trade advertizing space to the highest bidder at the disbursal of the developer it ’s there to honor .
But over the old age , I ’ve come to accept what the Game Awards is really attempt to do more and more . As I ’ve compose before , it ’s not the Oscars of video games , as so often advertised ; it ’s the MTV Movie Awards . It ’s a playful show build to honour a yr of big games , set up what ’s coming next , and create watercooler minute . It ’s a social event more than an awards show , occupying the same blank space as an E3 press league . That ’s not easy to perpetrate off in a three - hour show . The Game Awards format return apart any clip there ’s dead space ( not the good kind ) that ’s only getting clapping from advertizement executive up in the Peacock theater ’s corner seats .
evaluate by the occupied crowd , almost every section of this year ’s show felt like it was forsomebody . Flawed as the construction of the show will always be , this year ’s production is the substantially potential version of it we ’ve seen yet .
