Isn’t it ironic that Gamescom hasn’t finished yet, but we’re already looking at the next “major gaming events” of the year? It’s just the way things work in our world, sadly, and for many, that next big event will be The Game Awards in December. As you’ll see in the tweet below, the event has been set for December 12th and will return to its home in Los Angeles to celebrate its 10th anniversary. While some will be excited to go to the event and witness what happens live, there are others who are looking upon this and wondering, “how boring will it be this year?”
That might sound harsh, but it’s a truth that has been said across the gaming space, especially by its fans. Last year, the show was watched by 118 million people, which is an incredible number! However, the “satisfaction rate” of those who watched it wasn’t very high. Think of it like this: what’s the game that was revealed at the show last you that you were most hyped about? Can you even remember it?
Despite it being called “The Game Awards,” the event was one that was more focused on Geoff Keighley, his friends, and his attempts to bring celebrities to the mix to try and “spice things up,” and it pretty much backfired at every turn. Case in point, he brought on Hideo Kojima, who he’s infamously friends with, to talk about a game called “OD” that had an incredibly basic trailer that had no gameplay, and then let Kojima wax on about how the game would “change the industry” when it eventually released.
Meanwhile, legends like Eiji Aonuma, Swen Vencke, and more AWARD WINNERS at the show had less than thirty seconds to try to thank people, especially their teams, for the good work they did that allowed them to win such awards.
Geoff Keighley has said that he didn’t have a hand in that and would try to fix it for this year’s show, but that remains to be seen. Furthermore, the show has been getting longer each year, much to the chagrin of viewers, as they’re watching more “fluff” than meaningful gaming content. The show was almost 4 hours last year, and when fans broke down what was shown, the gaming aspect was in a much smaller fraction of the event.
The event will celebrate 10 years of life, which indicates that Keighley will go “all out” to make it a worthy show. Whether he succeeds in this remains to be seen.
