The second Thursday of December, a day as dreaded by gamers as it is beloved, marks the biggest event of the year for games: The Game Awards. Last Thursday, December 11th, The Game Awards hosted their 11th live show and stream as an independent. In those 11 years, however, it seems as if The Game Awards has become less about the awards, and more about the reveals.
Most gamers will admit it, they don’t watch the livestream to see the actual awards, they stick around for the trailers for all kinds of new games, and sometimes stick around for the game of the year reveal. This has led to a more streamlined show, where instead of most awards being announced and having people come on stage and do their speeches, they are done in somewhat distasteful rapid-fire off stage segments.
The awards themselves, however, are a major talking point for this year’s show specifically, as one game has become the most awarded in the history of The Game Awards, and has garnered a lot of unnecessary hate because of that fact. The game in question? Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the first game by indie (yes, indie) studio, Sandfall Interactive. It ended up with 11 nominations and 9 awards, and it deserved every last one of them. I haven’t even finished the game, I’m only at the very start of act 2, and I can tell that this game is something else.
While that is a major talking point for this year, the rest of the show was what we would come to expect, with a few major reveals. I’m particularly excited for Larian Studios’ new Divinity, which is the reason that hellish statue was placed in the middle of the mojave, and will supposedly be even bigger and better than their previous release and 2023’s game of the year, Baldur’s Gate 3; Warlock, an official Dungeons and Dragons game which we’re still waiting to see gameplay of; and I’m especially excited for Control Resonant, a sequel to one of my personal favorite games.
There were plenty of other announcements that have less meaning for me specifically, but I’m sure will be exciting for others. After 7 years, Capcom has finally announced another Mega Man game, as well as a new Street Fighter live action movie. Lara Croft is back with two newly announced Tomb Raider games, a remake of the original and a brand-new entry. Toshiro Nagoshi has announced Gang of Dragon after parting with the Yakuza/Like a Dragon game series and Sega. And a successor to the beloved Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic has been announced, with Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic.
The final announcement was maybe the most disappointing moment of the night. My friends and I theorized it would be The Elder Scrolls 6, which was announced at E3 in 2018 and has had no word since. Plenty of us assumed that the rumored Half-Life 3 would finally be revealed with the previous announcement of Valve’s new Steam Machine console-PC hybrid. Instead, what we got was Highguard, a free-to-play fantasy hero shooter from the developers of Apex Legends. I, and everyone else, were thoroughly disappointed. They should have just saved the Divinity announcement for last, in my opinion.
Disappointment, however, has slowly become the name of the game for The Game Awards, and I really only watch it for the trailers anyway.
