The Game Awards continue to be a squandered opportunity
It’s The Game Awards season again, with the ceremony set to be broadcast on December 8, 2022 — and once again, the nominations are a predictable mass of boring mediocrity that fail to celebrate the sheer diversity of the video games industry.
As always, it’s nothing but the same triple-A and indie darling releases — and to make matters worse, category after category lists the same games over and over and over again.
This is an absolutely squandered opportunity. As an event that a considerable number of eyes are on — with those eyes belonging to both industry insiders and gaming enthusiasts alike — the Game Awards are a prime opportunity to shine a spotlight on a wide variety of games that deserve exposure. It’s an opportunity to celebrate what a wonderful world gaming is, where these days there really is something for everyone.
And yet you wouldn’t know it from looking at most of this list. Elden Ring? Seven nominations. God of War? Ten nominations, including two in the same category. Horizon: Forbidden West? Seven nominations.
Even the indie and mobile nominations for The Game Awards don’t step far outside the “stuff that has been covered to death” comfort zone, with titles like Neon White, Stray and Tunic showing up multiple times — though it is, at least, encouraging to see slightly lesser-known titles such as I Was a Teenage Exocolonist show up under Games for Impact.
Listen, I’m not saying these multiple-nomination games aren’t worthy of acknowledgement, as much distaste as I personally hold for the way triple-A in particular does things. It’s just boring to see the same titles come up in category after category every time The Game Awards show up, when there are so many other amazing games that could have been showcased in their place. And it’s baffling to see titles like God of War and Horizon show up in categories like “best art direction” when they’re often criticised for looking exactly like every other big-budget Sony game that has ever existed.
What I’d rather see from stuff like The Game Awards is a limitation on how many times an individual title can show up. Specifically, it would be ideal if each game could only come up once. That way, each category can act as a real showcase of the many different aspects of making a game, and highlight many wonderful examples from across the entire industry — both the well-known and more underappreciated sectors — in the process.
For example, titles with highly creative or distinctive art styles such as Yomawari: Lost in the Dark and Soulstice are arguably more deserving of an award for “best art direction” at The Game Awards than the bland environments and dull characters of God of War and Horizon. Brok the InvestiGator deserves acknowledgement for its in-depth, creative and well-realised sci-fi narrative. And I’m not entirely sure what Sifu is doing in the “best fighting game” category when it’s clearly a beat ’em up of sorts; failing to distinguish between those two similar but distinct genres takes me right back to the ’90s.
And what of retro rereleases? Do they not deserve some sort of acknowledgement at an event like this? I’d argue that they do, since they bring classic titles up to date for modern audiences, effectively making them “new” games.
No, they don’t necessarily have to be considered alongside games that are actually brand new for this year — but I think we’re long overdue some sort of “lifetime achievement” or “legacy” celebration at The Game Awards for titles that have seen high-quality rereleases or compilations. Just from the last few months, Atari 50 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection spring immediately to mind, and there are plenty of others besides.
And this is to say nothing of the dedicated retro gaming hardware scene, with devices such as the Evercade and Analogue Pocket providing official means to re-experience (or discover) classic games from the past without having to get into the questionable legal waters of ROM preservation.
In my heart, I know all this is never going to happen, because The Game Awards is little more than a self-congratulatory celebration of the part of the western games industry that has money to throw around. The few indie or small-scale titles that are in there are the ones that were either fortunate enough to enjoy viral success so strong that they simply could not be ignored — hence Vampire Survivors sneaking in there — or the ones which are attached to publishers who will not be ignored like Devolver Digital.
This conversation comes up every year, and it never really changes. And the appropriate response stays the same, too: if you particularly enjoy something and feel that it doesn’t get enough attention, one of the best things you can do is talk about it. Celebrate it. Share your experiences with it. Word of mouth is incredibly important to modern games, particularly those that tend to fly under the radar of the bigger sites.
And while it’s not your job to do those games’ marketing for them, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with telling a friend that you really enjoyed a particular game and you think they might dig it also. Or, if you’re that way inclined, writing about, making videos on or streaming your favourite games so that people exploring the Web or following you on social media might stumble across them and discover a new favourite in the process.
And, of course, that’s what sites like Rice Digital continue to be all about, too. For the most part, we tend to eschew covering the big names of the here and now in favour of smaller-scale stuff that might have escaped your notice — or games of the past that deserve a second chance. And, in the absence of meaningful change in the way The Game Awards work, that’s what we’ll continue to do!
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