An overview of the Game Awards
Shining a light on the lesser-known video game award show.
For as long as movies and TV shows have been around, award shows have existed as a way to recognize those exceptional in these fields. While shows like the Oscar’s and the Emmy’s are historical staples of pop culture, there have been other shows that are not as well-known. One such show is the Game Awards, which, as the name suggests, focuses on video games.
The Game Awards began in 2014, hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley, who previously worked on the Spike Video Game Awards. After Spike discontinued the show in 2013 due to disappointing results, Keighley formed the Game Awards to replace them.
The format of the show is quite different from other award shows. Most award shows present the winners and are interspersed with musical or comedic performances. In contrast, the Game Awards is more like an ad fest, showcasing trailer after trailer for new games while presenting the winners of the awards in between the announcements. Another key difference in the presentation is the announcement for Game of the Year at the very end. While shows like the Oscar’s simply announce the nominees and the winner for Best Picture, the Game Awards contains an entire orchestra which performs music from each of the nominees that seamlessly flows into each other.
Due to the format of the show, the Game Awards has received a lot of criticism over the years. Many people have pointed out how commercialized the show is due to the sheer number of advertisements. Other critics point out its bias towards certain celebrities, granting them large portions of time to speak while neglecting those who were supposed to be celebrated. During the 2023 show, many award winners did not have even a minute to celebrate their awards or make a speech. This culminated in the 2023 Game of the Year winners being rushed off the stage despite winning the most important award of the night.
While many of these factors worked to sour the view of the Game Awards, Keighley took notice of many of these criticisms and worked to improve the show. As such, the 2024 Game Awards were structured more cohesively and respectfully than previous shows, allowing winners to speak for as long as they wanted and cutting down on time spent by celebrity guests. Sven Vicke, the winner of last year’s Game of the Year award, was invited to announce the winner of this year and was even allowed to make a long speech about how the best games are made by those who are truly passionate about them. All of these improvements showed that Keighley listened to all the critiques and took great measures to fix all of the issues the show had in previous years.
While not having as much of a presence as the Oscars or the Emmys, the existence of the Game Awards is a welcomed one, as they shine a light on the most exceptional games of each year. Despite past issues with the format and presentation of the show, recent showings have instilled hope in the future of the Game Awards.
