The Game Awards Are Losing Their Luster (theverge.com)
- Reference: 0180362635
- News link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/12/11/1737204/the-game-awards-are-losing-their-luster
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/games/841710/the-game-awards-2025-preview-geoff-keighley
The show's Future Class program, launched in 2020 to celebrate game makers representing an inclusive future for the industry, has quietly ended. No new class has been named for two years. "At this time, we are not planning a new Future Class for this year," organizer Emily Weir told Game Developer.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/games/841710/the-game-awards-2025-preview-geoff-keighley
Those layoffs weren't new. (Score:2)
Why would a game industry awards show acknowledge layoffs? Layoffs have been part of that industry for decades. A studio gets hired by a publisher to make a game, finishes the game, then lays off half the team because the next project will be smaller. Or there is no next project and the entire studio tanks. If game industry people think their layoffs are bad they should go talk to some 40 year olds working in Palo Alto about how many times they've been laid off.
The Game Awards Can't Support "Luster" (Score:3)
"The biggest night on the video game calendar" was never going to be The Game Awards. There are very, very, very few industry awards ceremonies that people care enough about to watch unless they're personally involved in that industry and video games are not one of those industries.
Movie and TV awards are chock full of beautiful people, charismatic personalities, popular music, haute couture, comedy, and themes that span generations. Gaming, by comparison, is significantly more niche and (as widespread as game-play is) there isn't enough emotional investment for the people **who otherwise go completely unseen** to attract an significant and enduring audience.
In regards to the complaints about the lack of recognition of layoffs and other issues: "What the hell did you expect?" No one builds an awards ceremony around the airing of dirty laundry.
Steam Awards (Score:1)
Aren't these the only ones that actually matter?
Politics (Score:2)
I just don't think many people want to watch an awards show where there's a bunch of angry people trying to push a political agenda. I mean, I support their right to free speech, and I've always felt like the games industry abused developers, but you're in the business of entertainment, and hearing people complain about their industry (an industry that I support with multiple game purchases per year) isn't what I'd call entertainment. At most I'd watch it to hear what the big games are, and maybe to see s
Can't lose what you never had. (Score:4, Insightful)
There never was any luster. Not something I've ever heard anyone discuss in any context.
Re: (Score:2)
I would think the Razzies have even more luster than these awards. Though I guess someone cares about them.
Re:Can't lose what you never had. (Score:4, Interesting)
And I would go one step further: Whatever respect or luster games journalists once had, it's all gone and replaced by Twitch, Youtube, Steam Reviews, etc. Who needs a game journalism industry that exists in a perpetual conflict-of-interest grey zone with the industry they cover when you can get all of the info you'll ever need from actual people playing the game? And who would trust industry awards anyway?
Steam should just take 10 minutes and perform metrics on "Total Downloads", "Total Hours Played", "Total Concurrent Users" and "Average Review Score" and whammo, there are your annual game awards.
Re: Can't lose what you never had. (Score:4, Interesting)
You're mixing game magazine reviews and actual game journalism. For reviews, I'm absolutely with you. For journalism, we do really need more of it. Industry trends, acquisitions, laws. The industry needs a lot more transparency and accountability.
Re: (Score:1)
If movie awards were judged the same way, the Oscars best picture nominees would go to Lilo & Stich, A Minecraft Movie, Zootopia 2 and Jurassic World: Rebirth. No thank you. We don't need to Game of the Years awards perpetually going to the likes of Fortnite, Call of Duty, MineCraft and Roblox.