2023 is rapidly coming to a close, and to end the year on a high note, Geoff Keighley and The Game Awards flooded the airwaves. Over 2.5 hours, the Keighley Show debuted world premieres, created a new generation of memes, and brought in celebrities to usher in the next wave of games and celebrate what 2023 brought.
This year was incredibly packed, and if you’re like me, you’re catching up on games from the beginning of this year. I just finished and loved Alan Wake II, but other big names like Baldur’s Gate 3, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Spider-Man 2, and more all decided to show up this year and fight for supremacy. This year’s contest was very stuffed, and millions worldwide tuned in to see who was the king of the year.
I invited my friend over to split a box of Trulys and party snacks while we watched the event, and it’s safe to say, this year’s event was strange. How strange, I’m still trying to discern, but I’m leaning more toward the not-good strange.
Let’s talk about it, starting with the elephant in the room.
“Please wrap up” 2 seconds into a speech
2022’s Game of Awards culminated in an old man and his son versus the maidenless in a battle for GOTY. The father-son duo sucked up every award minus “Game of the Year,” but it was the voice actor for the dad that made headlines since he won “Best Performance” and racked up an astounding eight-minute thank you speech (epic intro, right?)
This year’s event seemed hellbent on making sure this wouldn’t happen again and instituted a strict policy of playing music to cue the end of an acceptance speech. As you can imagine, it functioned so horribly that it lit the internet ablaze with criticism.
Thousands of tweets flooded the official event hashtag all echoing the same feeling. Personal note: I get uncomfortable during moments that come off as awkward. During the event, I stood up and walked away during speeches since the music would start five seconds into an acceptance speech.
What makes it worse is while this year was incredible for gaming, it was also extremely taxing. Thousands of developers lost their jobs, but not a single mention from Geoff. I get The Game Awards (TGA from now on, I’m tired) isn’t a platform to spread “certain” messages, but if we’re celebrating video games, why don’t we celebrate the countless people who made them?
Along with that, a few segments featured developer chit chat that would go on for extended periods of time. However, the people accepting their awards couldn’t be given the same courtesy?
I was disappointed, to say the least. I’d watch a four-hour event if that meant the devs and talented people making these games could talk for more than 2 seconds to show gratitude and love, or we could get another “F*ck the Oscars” moment. That also leads me to the rapid-fire segment, where awards were given to “smaller” categories without any speech.
I saw a decent take on Twitter, where one user mentioned TGA should be a two-day event, one for news, the other to celebrate the year in gaming. They’d never do that, but I think that would be incredible, or try to implement a better balance.
Geoff has since addressed the musical notes, which is applaudable, but he’s going to be dealing with a lot of “wrap it up” replies for the next year.
God of War Ragnarök DLC and Blade carried the announcements
Aside from the rewards, TGA usually brings a ton of game announcements, aka Keighley’s beloved “world premieres.” Not gonna lie, this year was weak, but two bad boys absolutely carried.
God of War Ragnarök DLC has floated around the internet for some time, with many expecting the announcement to come during TGA. God of War Ragnarök Valhalla is a roguelike experience, dropping players into an arena mode full of endless replayability. It’s free and launches on December 12, which caught me off guard due to its release date and the fact that it’s not what I expected from God of War DLC.
Will I play it? Of course. Is it weird? A smidge, but I love God of War.
But… not as weird as Bethesda announcing a freakin Blade game.
Bethesda’s been on hard times of late, with Redfall flopping and Starfield in the “mud.” However, that didn’t stop Bethesda from grabbing and revealing this project.
Arkane Lyon, the team behind Dishonored and Deathloop not Redfall, is behind this project, a third-person, single-player experience. I didn’t enjoy Deathloop, but Dishonored was a great series. If Arkane can capture a fraction of that magic, then Blade will cook, which is what Arkane’s Dinga Bakaba ended the reveal with before he demonstrated his karate skills.
Aside from those two, a launch window for Hellblade 2 was announced, Jordan Peele and Kojima are teaming up for OD, and Dragon Ball Z: SPARKING! ZERO made its appearance after a surprise announcement way back when… this year felt kind of empty.
Cyberpunk 2077 wins “Best Ongoing Support”
By now, you probably already have heard of Cyberpunk 2077‘s story. What launched as a flaming mess (happy three years btw) has been renewed, with three years of updates, patches, and one expansion completely turning around said mess. Cyberpunk 2077 is an incredible game now and reflective of all the hard work the team put into it.
However, its nomination and win in the “Best Ongoing Support” category left many confused since this is usually a multiplayer-dominated category. Apex Legends had a decent year, Fortnite reached explosive heights with OG and its newest chapter launch, while Genshin Impact and Final Fantasy 14 have been constantly supported since their respective launches.
I’m not going to say it doesn’t deserve it because it wholeheartedly does. From its launch to now, this is a completely different product after three years of support and a massive expansion have brought this closer to what it should’ve been at launch. However, it is a just a little unfair to the rest of the titles in this category.
To be fair, Destiny 2 got nominated for “Best Community Support” literally days after Bungie laid off around 100 employees. So I guess Cyberpunk’s nominee and win could’ve been worse.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is your 2023 GOTY
Haven’t played this yet, but going into TGA, I knew it was all but certain Larian Studios would nab this award. Baldur’s Gate 3 had an insane year, something so unprecedented that I don’t think I can remember a game that exploded onto the scene as this one did.
Months after launch, Larian is adding thousands of new dialogue options, releasing deluxe editions containing everything the studio owns for $80, and has one of the best critics ratings across all consoles I’ve ever seen (96 on both PC/PS5 according to Metacritic). It’s absolutely absurd, and if the developers are going to show their game this much love, they deserve the world.
Congratulations to Larian for raising the bar to absurd heights for game development, and congrats on a stellar year. Also, shoutout to the boss man for wearing the suit of armor the whole night, that’s a real DnD fan right there.
I will say that I thought Baldur’s Gate was going to sweep every category, yet Alan Wake II made some impressive noise, wracking up many of the “smaller awards.” It reminded me of 2022’s ceremony, which saw God of War Ragnarök steal just about everything but GOTY, as that honor went to Elden Ring.
Abubakar Salim won my heart and the hearts of many
Okay, this moment genuinely moved me.
Abubakar Salim, the voice actor of Bayek in Assassin’s Creed Origins, introduced his first ever video game, an EA Original, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU. His speech was beautiful, as he reflected on his father’s influence on Salim’s gaming roots. His father passed away years ago, and Salim said he’s still figuring it out.
His solution? Make a video game: a way to process his grief while remaining true to himself.
I’m a “gamah,” so my opinion may be biased, but I genuinely teared up hearing this. Gaming has come a long way since its inception, and every year, the industry reaches new heights. Salim’s passion is what keeps the industry moving forward, and this is truly what it’s about.
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU arrives April 23, 2024, and while I’m not a huge fan of these types of games, I’m definitely going to give it a try!
Rapid fire segment
- Sean Murray, mastermind behind No Man’s Sky, is back with a new game. Light No Fire is similar in nature to the previously maligned title, and the memes have been piling up with everyone telling Sean not to overpromise like he did with NMS. It’s funny, and CD PR even got in on the joke.
- Christopher Judge roasted Call of Duty in his intro speech, and CoD devs got mad. I get both sides of the argument, but I don’t think the devs should take it as a slight given the positive reception to everything but the campaign. Plus, everyone hates Activision, not you.
- The Old Guards of Asgard, band from Alan Wake II, debuted at TGA. I liked the performance, especially when the camera panned to Sam Lake suit and tie was jamming. He’s living his best life, and I’m here for it.
- Nominated for Best Performance due to his appearance in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Idris Elba… was not at TGA, and instead his profile picture displayed. It was hilarious, I loved it, he’s too busy DJ’ing across the world, let him be.
- The Bill Clinton kid grew up so fast! Can’t wait to see him in Dune 2: Electric Boogaloo.
- Hello Kitty Island Adventure was nominated for “Best Mobile Game,” and it didn’t win. Rather unfortunate, and one fan shared a passionate response.
- Final Fantasy XVI voice actor, Ben Starr, became an internet sensation after he got “flash banged” during the showcase. He’s fine, but he’s become quite the meme.
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