When The Game Awards were first established in 2014, it seemed almost like an act of counterculture. Despite the fact that games were starting to mature and push narrative boundaries at the time, the medium still struggled to be taken seriously on a mainstream level. The idea of games getting a glitzy awards show almost felt like an act of rebellion – something that was cemented by Joseph Fares’ legendary Oscars diss at the 2017 ceremony.
?? GAME AWARDS: 2022 Nomination Announcement with Geoff Keighley ??
The landscape is much different in 2022. Video games are now widely accepted as a serious art form, and Hollywood has even embraced them with a wave of film and TV adaptations. The Game Awards is no longer a counterculture show demanding respect for an underrated medium; it is now the same institution it once opposed. With that growth comes added responsibility, as gaming fans looked to a show that would truly represent the industry. The more the platform grows, the more it will come under scrutiny.
Game Awards host and executive producer Geoff Keighley has not taken that responsibility lightly as he enters the series’ ninth year. When I spoke with him before the 2022 ceremony, we discussed the positive feedback and criticism the series has received over the past few years. Although the event has settled into its natural rhythm, Keighley treats it less like a static routine and more like an ongoing game willing to listen and evolve.
Action of balance
For Keighley, the increased dissection of The Game Awards over the years is no surprise. “The root of it is that people really care about this show. It represents their point of passion, their hobby. We are hyper-aware of that,” he tells Digital Trends.
Creating a show that honors that passion is no small task. Fans have a wildly different vision of what The Game Awards should be, and they’re quick to debate it every year, from nomination announcement to showtime. One of the most dissected aspects of the ceremony in recent times is the balance between the actual awards and “world premieres.” In the last few years, in particular, there have been a large number of announcements for new games, which attracted a large audience.
I often live in fear that we won’t have enough for people.
It’s also been a sore point for some who feel the show is becoming more of a marketing platform than a celebration of art. Keighley is aware of those conversations, but feels that the balancing act between the two is ultimately what makes the series special.
“We’ve done polls online and the vast majority of fans definitely follow trailers and premieres,” says Keighley. “But we also know that our show is called The Game Awards and it’s a really important thing for the industry. I think it’s a healthy tension that makes for a good show; it is neither. It’s a battle we face every year. We’re never going to please everyone, and this audience has their own opinion about what they want to see in a show. They comment on the quality of advertisements, or whether there are advertisements. We have a very high bar to hit.”
That high bar extends to what is actually shown during the broadcast. Expectations for Keighley-produced live broadcasts have grown over the past two years as games companies have been more willing to trust shows like The Game Awards with their biggest reveals. That always has a chance to backfire, as events like this year’s Summer Games Fest kick-off stream left some players stressed about the lack of Elden Ring– premiere caliber. The team behind the show tried to set expectations accordingly this year, but there’s only so much they can do.
“Even when we don’t say anything, people will create expectations about things that will be there,” says Keighley. “We know that we are only as good as the content that game makers give us. Half of our show is done by them… Often there are games where we want to show something, but they are not ready and there are a lot of changes… We have great stuff. We are quite confident in our line-up. To each their own in terms of what you expect from the show. I often live in fear that we won’t have enough for people.”
There’s an added challenge that makes the job of The Game Awards even more difficult: big reveals have a way of leaking in advance. This year, the grand finale of the Summer Games Fest hosted by Keighley and the Gamescom Opening Night Live (The Last of Us Part 1 and Dead Island 2) were spoiled in advance by the setlists that popped up before the show. That’s one area that Keighley and company just can’t tackle on their own.
“It’s unfortunate that things like this happen, and often there are so many partners and things involved in these games,” says Keighley. “We have never had any leaks from our show team in all these years. I was talking to a team last week that was announcing their game at a trade show, and they said, ‘We have a spreadsheet with 143 things we need to do after the game is announced. Inclusion of social accounts, posts, blogs, web lists.’ I would never sit here and tell you that things are going to be perfect!”
Show in progress
Keighley can’t control fan expectations or leaks, but he can control how the show itself evolves over time. Sometimes it manifests itself in small ways. This year’s show adds a new category in the form of Best Adaptation, which will honor TV shows and movies based on video games. For Keighley, that willingness to read the wind gives The Game Awards a better chance of staying relevant, rather than becoming too hard-nosed.
“One of the things we pride ourselves on is being a series that can adapt and evolve as needed,” says Keighley. “Not so many awards shows that add categories or change them so often. We really try to think about what’s going on in the gaming world. This year, Best Adaptation is something we’ve been talking about for years. Our rubric for deciding whether to add a new category is: Are there enough games to make it a contest? We never want to create a category and struggle to find nominees. By adapting this year, we crossed that chasm.”
Other changes are much bigger, and this is where the series faces some of its toughest challenges. Last year’s Game Awards took place amid reports of Activision Blizzard’s long history of workplace misconduct. In what would become a defining moment for the show, Keighley opened the broadcast by highlighting the problem of widespread abuse in the video game industry and calling on the companies to do better. It was a powerful message for a show that had previously been agnostic about issues in game development.
I don’t believe our show is a platform where we ban companies from being part of the show.
However, that moment immediately fell under the microscope, since it was accompanied by a trailer for Star Wars Eclipse — the latest game from Quantic Dream. The studio has a history of scandal reporting, leading some viewers to question whether the show was really willing to put its money where its mouth was. When asked about the moment, Keighley made it clear that the team is listening to such feedback and has a willingness to make changes. However, he believes there are nuances in the steps such a platform should take.
“It’s something we’re thinking about and discussing,” Keighley says. “I thought last year it was important to address a situation that everyone was thinking about, but I don’t believe that our show is a platform where we ban companies from being part of the show. There are a lot of incredibly talented developers doing amazing work. I think we have to think about it and we discuss those things, but it’s a slippery slope when you decide that we have to vet each studio or decide if they’re worth being on the show.”
“And it is a dynamic situation. Companies deal with things and hopefully they will deal with things and things will improve. I think it was necessary to say something at the start of the show last year, but hopefully the industry has evolved since then.”
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
Evolution is the key word for The Game Awards, which is approaching its 10th year. The show continues to grow because it understands that the gaming industry is also constantly changing. It must rise to meet the medium it covers, which means it can never become too precious about its structure. This sets it apart from other award institutions like the Oscars, which can often come off as disjointed.
While Keighley wants to keep up with the times, there’s one frontier The Game Awards remains wary of for now: the Metaverse.
“I’m a big believer in games connecting people and being mass social experiences,” says Keighley. “What I think is a lot of hot air is some of these ideas about the Metaverse from other companies that aren’t game companies coming into the space. You will see in our show that we are not focused on web3 stuff or blockchain games. We’re just not interested in going down that road. We’re really focused on the core games that everyone knows and loves.”
The Game Awards will be broadcast live on December 8 across digital and social platforms, including Twitch and YouTube.
Editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn