The Game Awards, emphasis on the last word, “awards.” If I were to ever talk about an event that has become a shell of its former self, it would be this one. I won’t delve into why or when it happened, but you know it has. One year, celebrities hoard the stage, not leaving room for developers to talk. Another year, a GOTY winner gets less time to speak than a mobile game ad. On the tenth anniversary of TGAs 2024, the show left many winners on the bench to make room for trailers and awful product placement. Well, not on our watch. Here, we’d like to talk about the amazing games and developers that didn’t get their rightful spot on the stage.
The Winner of Best Fighting Game Didn’t Even Make it To The Main Show
Image Source: Bandai Namco
Let’s start with the elephant in the room, the Best Fighting Game winner who didn’t even deserve to be in the main show of TGA. That was a slap in the face for all nominees. This year, we had some of the best we’ve seen in the genre. Dragon Ball made its big return, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising took a spot in the category, and the one that took the award was the family drama of Tekken 8, but you’re telling me they couldn’t put this category in the main show? At least they invited the developers up the stage, which is more than we can say for the other cases of the show.
Best VR/AR Game was on the same boat. While the team of Batman: Arkham Shadow was able to appear on stage, why didn’t this category make it past the opening act? Is it less important? Does the show prioritize its AMD and Xbox ads more than the developers they are awarding? Only the committee knows, but VR and AR games, while a bit niche, are extremely well made, and this year’s contestant deserved to be in the main show, not sidelined to the opening act.
Speedrunning the Esports Category
Image Source: Riot Games
Now, here comes the kicker: the Esports category. All winners of this TGA category were sidelined, and it certainly felt like the organizers just wanted to speedrun all of the nominees. As expected, League of Legends took the crown for Best Esports Game, and the developers were nowhere to be found. For Best Esports Athlete, we had Faker as the winner, and I imagine how great it must feel to fly miles from home to receive an award off-screen, which is the same with the Best Esports Team, where T1 took the award home.
It baffles me how the Esports landscape, which has grown considerably and will continue to do so, became an off-screen thing in the show. All of these players and games have taken the competitive part of gaming to exorbitant levels, and don’t they deserve to stand on the stage? They should be able to thank those who got them there, take the awards in their hands, and celebrate with the audience. But no, trailers come first, apparently. At least the Games for Impact, Innovation in Accessibility, and Best Family Game winners got time on the stage, which was great.
Most Anticipated, Best Multiplayer, Community Support, and Art Direction Being Sidelined Is a Crime
Image Source: Rockstar Games
This is the point where maybe everyone’s blood started to boil. Between the Clive reveal for Tekken 8 and the Splitgate 2 trailer, Geoff did a speedrun of four important categories. We had Most Anticipated Game, Best Multiplayer, Community Support, and Art Direction having less screen time than the trailers that followed. And I’m not joking. Those four awards lasted less than two minutes.
To no one’s surprise, Grand Theft Auto 6 won Most Anticipated Game. I will not say Rockstar Games is my favorite studio, but it deserves praise for how greatly it nails the open-world formula. After more than a decade in Los Santos, we can’t wait to move on to bigger shores on GTA 6. With how huge the game will be, didn’t those developers deserve to be up there? Heck, it might’ve been the boost they needed to release a new trailer one day.
Another game that deserved time on stage was Helldivers 2. This co-op experience had a rocky year. It was full of controversies and balance issues, and Sony constantly mismanaged it. Yet, it won as Best Multiplayer Game. Arrowhead Game Studios deserved time to give a speech. Thanks to their efforts and the dedicated community, Helldivers 2 stands strong in a saturated market, and it has no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Image Source: Larian Studios
It’s still surprising that a year later and being GOTY winner, Baldur’s Gate 3 still can’t get proper stage time at TGAs. Despite being released last year and being a single-player game, the community support has been huge. You can check SteamDB and see how relevant it still is. There are so many players around modding, romancing, and doing all sorts of shenanigans in this intricate RPG. Baldur’s Gate 3 has an amazing community, and we would’ve loved to see the developers thanking the adamant fans of this game.
This one hurt me more than it should’ve. An art style can carry a game even if other elements are lacking. Fortunately, we had nothing but bangers this year. ReFantazio, Astro Bot, Wukong, Neva, and Shadow of the Erdtree. They were all unique and alluring. While Metaphor: ReFantazio took the award, it didn’t get the spotlight to bring the art team up there, and that’s awful. When did these categories become so irrelevant for The Game Awards that they don’t even deserve a minute to let the talented people give a speech?
Five More Categories Stuck Between a Trailer and Muppets
Image Source: Atlus
The following TGA winners only had two minutes in the show and, once again, got sidelined because of the trailers galore, starting with Best Action/Adventure Game. Astro Bot certainly got many awards, including GOTY. Still, this is a huge category and deserves proper recognition. The action/adventure genre is one of the most impactful in the industry, and the fact that it had less time than the Muppets is facepalm-inducing. The same applies to Best RPG, where the team of Metaphor: ReFantazio couldn’t even get on stage. And let me remind you that 2024 was packed with amazing RPGs, and this category had the strongest competition.
While I don’t follow content creators online that much, it is sad to see them get the award off-screen. Nowadays, many players follow these gamers almost religiously. Furthermore, promoting games through them has become a key aspect of the industry. While outlets still do a great job of convincing and informing people, content creators hold a lot of power as well. CaseOh deserved to be up there.
Sports and Racing Games are now a single category, and I feel that’s fine. We don’t usually get so many big ones in a year. Still, the nominated ones are there because they left a mark. On the other hand, there are plenty of SIM/Strategy Games out there, but only a few stand out as true gems of the year. The fact that EA Sports FC 25 and Frostpunk 2 didn’t get spotlight time is wild.
The Player’s Voice Winner Didn’t Even Get a Voice on Stage
Image Source: Game Science
The next speedrunning segment featured Best Independent Game, Best Mobile Game, Best Audio Design, and Player’s Voice. Balatro took the first two awards, and for a one-person game, this is a huge feat. While Astro Bot took the GOTY award, Balatro felt like the true winner of the show. One person creating a hit as big as this one is no small feat; it’s sad that those two awards were swept under the rug just to feed us with more trailers.
Audio design is something we always overlook as gamers. I can’t blame people, though. Sometimes, what’s happening on screen is too hectic for us to notice what’s happening in the background. However, Hellblade 2 knocked it out of the park. It featured one of the best and most immersive works on audio I’ve ever heard, and the way it conveys emotions was fantastic. Sadly, TGAs didn’t think the winners had the right to be on stage to thank their team and fans.
But wait, because we’ve reached the kicker of this speedrunning segment: Player’s Voice. Now, out of all the awards in this ceremony, Player’s Voice is the players’ pick. Out of a long list, we choose our winner. Imagine winning this category by pure player voting and not being able to thank the fan base that got you the award. How sad. Black Myth: Wukong got other awards, but this one was huge for fans and the studio.
The Game Awards Needs To Get Its Priorities Straight
Image Source: The Game Awards
As a show, it is normal to offer screen time to upcoming games. Most are excited to see announcements of upcoming games. Most only watch the show for that. However, this is, first and foremost, an awards ceremony, not a showcase. If, as the hosts so beautifully put it, praise the amazing talent behind the games, let them have time to get an award. They should be able to give a speech and celebrate with the audience.
Unfortunately, The Game Awards was nothing but a cluster of product placement and trailer clutter that left a sour taste in many people’s mouths. While there were fantastic reveals, a few trailers should’ve been left on the bench and given that time to this year’s TGA winners. They are the true celebrities of the night and the ones who deserve to be under the spotlight. I doubt things will change for the ceremony in the coming years, but to all developers, know that many gamers out here praise your hard work this year.
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