The Game Awards 2021: An Opinion
a take on its vision and current format.
The Game Awards were celebrated on December 9th with a bit of mixed emotions from a grand variety of gamers, fans, developers, producers, and industry insiders around the world; heck, even movie stars and other celebrities are on the orbit of this ever-growing show. Certainly Geoff Keighley's vision for this show is an even bigger one that the one we current have.
The ceremony feels like a grand event, like the Oscars in terms of length, gravitas, prestige, and production value. The Game Awards Orchestra always deliver with their amazingly talented members. It gives the ceremony the grandness it represents. This is a good aim in my opinion. However Keighley's vision will go beyond that. He dreams of a virtual Coachella for this award. People from all over the world can attend a virtual festival that takes place during a few days where we can see many award categories being dissected even more; where "World Premieres" excite us about things to come. Certainly we can navigate this virtual place however we desire. Even concerts from various industry relevant artists can become a highlight point.
A 3 hour long show is somewhat of a sweet-spot in terms of length, meaning, and attention span for fans. It's true that we have "things to do" or that "nobody got time for that", however, we have the underrated alternative of watching bits of the show on YouTube once the channel uploads the relevant clips. To some, it feels a lot to digest, so clips or edits are a better way of consuming the show. Some folk like to watch their favorite content creators react live to the show as it goes, this is nice if you want some insight or opinion on the go. This is fantastic if you rather be playing some games or doing something while the show is on the background or a second screen. This sort of passive consumption is ideal while you go on about your day.
Keighley's vision for the show seems to lean towards a more active type of consumption, where people will have to "travel" to the desired spots they want to check out. I imagine something categorized like an area for Action-Adventure games, another one for FPS games, another where concerts are being held, and so on. This vision is ideal for giving each of the many great gaming categories the importance they deserve. I'm not gonna lie, with the current format, I feel that sometimes great award categories are rushed or are not given the attention they deserve. Sometimes they just mention the nominees and say who the winner is, with no one to pick the award or no proper build-up. You could even sub-divide gaming categories and still have proper hype for each one. Having the even last for 2 or 3 days feels like we can celebrate each award properly.
The Game Awards lean heavily on "World Premieres" which is a bit of a Geoff Keighley's "trademark". Whilst is great to see what games the industry is working on, sometimes I feel that just showing a small trailer with no release date is somewhat vague. Some of these games even go through many Game Awards, showing trailers with no gameplay. This is not a problem of the World Premiere itself, rather than how the industry markets games now-days; we can see this kind of things during E3, Gamescom, Tokyo Game Show, and so on. Gamers have been asking for more gameplay rather than just mere trailers, however we can't have it all, and media has become so visceral that publishers can't risk showing something unpolished because of how harmful it can be to the hype and expectations of their incoming games.
the game awards 2021.
We saw many of this year's nominees get the love they deserve. Forza Horizon 5 in my opinion is one of the best games on the list. It excels in production value, graphics, sounds, gameplay, and even in more technical aspects such as multi-platform optimization. The game runs incredibly well on the Xbox Series S at a fantastic resolution, visual fidelity, and frame rate. It was great to see this game, alongside It Takes Two be the most awarded ones on the ceremony. To me this had to be the "Game of the Year" however it's nice to see Josef Fares' "It Takes Two" grasp the win from "Deathloop" which was lining up for the grand prize (they had 9 nominations).
We can debate whether or not the awards were fair. However I think we need to look at the bigger picture; small or new developers/publishers have a serious shot at getting worldwide industry recognition with prestigious awards. Even the fact that you are nominated is a testament of the hard work many men and women put into creating videogames. This is why I think we need proper build-up and have all nominees pick up their awards, no matter the category. To see them share the stage with industry veterans or even celebrities is wholesome to say the least.
Amazing Surprises
Definitely seeing It Takes Two get Game of the Year was the most amazing surprise.
The Alan Wake 2 reveal sneak peek.
Wonder Woman being announced. If this game plays like the Arkham series, then we're in store for a fantastic game.
Star Wars Eclipse: we did not expect something this ambitious at all. I hope this is an Action-Adventure RPG open world game.
This year game awards have been a solid iteration in terms of production, quality, and all around game reveals. One thing to consider is that we're still carrying the "pandemic weight" that has affected game development and production on many levels, so we naturally had delays which render some strong contenders out of the nominees pile. Rest assured that next year's Game Awards are going to be amazing with games like Halo Infinite, Horizon Forbidden West, and Breath of the Wild 2 battling for the grand award. Let's hope we all see these amazing games released during the time window for a nomination. Of course the are many more exciting games being released for 2022.
What are your thoughts on the 2021 Game Awards? What game would you have given the award? What are some things you might do differently? Let me know in the comments down below.
Activision addendum
Given the recent controversies surrounding Activision, The Game Awards decided not not showcase anything related to the publisher. In my opinion this was a sensible decision, however some people may have felt tossed aside or left out of a joyous occasion. Let's remember that hundreds of men and women work on making games so to be left out of the awards ceremony might feel like a punishment for something they're not directly related to. It's like when we were punished without recess in school just because of a few troublemakers. It's difficult to offer a solution where all parties are satisfied. However, at the beginning of the ceremony they addressed their position on this kind of issues.
