The Game Awards were more infuriating than usual in 2023 | Kaser Focus

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At first blush, The Game Awards 2023 was not very different from previous events. Most of the complaints I could level at Geoff Keighley’s tenth show are ones I could make against the ninth, the eighth and so on. The show was overly focused on Hollywood actors over game-based performers. Kojima’s game reveal that wasn’t a game reveal went on for entirely too long. The orchestra practically jumped down the throats of any award recipient who said more than a cursory “Thank you” on the mic (Keighley even agrees with me on the last one).

In any other year, I’d be annoyed, but not upset. While I hate Keighley’s propensity to fawn over anyone from the film and TV industry who shows up at these events and I wish the actual awards were given more focus, I’m accept that this Just How It Is. But in 2023, that felt like even more of a kick in the teeth than it usually does. The Game Awards have always been commercial, but watching Keighley and company wallow in that aspect of the show while the actual industry that’s propping up the event is on fire put my hackles in the air.

Am I talking about the layoffs again? You bet I am. Even by the most conservative estimates, over 7,000 people lost their jobs in the games industry this year. I’m not saying I expected The Game Awards to pay direct tribute to them. Heck, I’m not even saying The Game Awards needed to be a downer. I would have settled for the bare minimum of just acknowledging how many people have been screwed over this year and some lip service to the fact that the show wouldn’t exist without their work.

Instead, what we got was a show where the people