Last night was The Game Awards, and how good it was or wasn’t will vary depending on who you talk to. On the one hand, there were good reveals that had people excited. For example, some people are playing the latest adventures of Kratos because of the free DLC that was dropped last night, and the same goes for those who are fans of Clive Rosfield. There were also some fun awards moments, like Baldur’s Gate 3 winning Game of the Year. But for many online, they’re talking about Geoff Keighley and how he handled the show last night; not all of it is positive mentions.
No, it’s not simply about the length of the show or some of the more “awkward moments” that continually happen at the event, but rather, some are pointing out that Geoff Keighley was intentionally showing off certain parts of the game industry and hiding other parts.
One such view came from Insider Gaming, who called Keighley a coward. Why? In a special piece they wrote, they noted how Keighley kept referring to how 2023 was a “great year in gaming,” and it was, but with context that needed to be stated. In this case, we refer to how, while many great games were made, many people and companies were hit with layoffs that drastically affected the industry.
For example, long-time developer Volition shut down this year after decades of life. There were massive layoffs at Bioware, Bungie, and many other companies owned by The Embracer Group. Despite these painful moments within the industry, Geoff didn’t mention a single one.
This is hardly the first time that Geoff has side-stepped things. In one infamous moment from The Game Awards a few years back, Keighley delivered a message about the industry, only for him to segue right from that to a “World Premiere.”
Insider Gaming also noted that despite Bungie’s continued woes with Destiny 2, the developer was somehow nominated for “Best Community Support.” That’s odd because they laid off many people within that division in the last year.
Another thing that many people on Twitter noted is that everyone who gave a speech that was “too long,” in this case, 30 seconds or more, was told to “Please Wrap It Up.” That included people like Eiji Aonuma, who had to have his words translated, or Larian Studios, who were the LAST winner of the night and were trying to honor a lost friend during their acceptance speech.
No such “wrap-up messages” were given to Hideo Kojima during his incredibly long stage appearance or to Keighley when he did bits with Gonzo and other developers.
What do you think of all this? Let us know below!
