This year's Game Awards ceremony garnered a lot of justified criticism for the way it rushed winning developers off stage in favour of adverts, rambling conversations with Hideo Kojima, and celebrity cameos from the likes of Timothée Chalamet.
11.12.2023 - 13:07 / eurogamer.net / Geoff Keighley
Following scrutiny from developers, The Game Awards founder and host Geoff Keighley has said he agrees the allotted speech time for each winner was too short this year.
Winners had 30 seconds to make their speeches, after which the music to play them off stage was started and they were drowned out. Developers criticised the short time, especially in the context of a ceremony which should be celebrating their hard work.
Writing on X (née Twitter) the day after the show, Keighley admitted award winners should have been allowed more time for their speeches, albeit in a roundabout way.
«By the way — I do agree that the music was played too fast for award winners this year,» Keighley began. Keighley stated he «asked our team to relax [the 30 seconds] rule as the show went on» and said while no winners were cut off by the music, it'd be «something to address going forward».
By the way — I do agree that the music was played too fast for award winners this year, and I asked our team to relax that rule as the show went on. While no one was actually cut off, it’s something to address going forward.
In total, speeches made up 10 minutes of The Game Awards' three hour runtime. The rest of the time was mostly filled with trailers for upcoming games. Keighley has not spoken on the weighting between time allotted to awards winners and advertising at The Game Awards, which has been highlighted by developers in the wake of the show, nor its omission of a statement on the huge number of layoffs in the games industry this year or the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine.
This year's Game Awards ceremony garnered a lot of justified criticism for the way it rushed winning developers off stage in favour of adverts, rambling conversations with Hideo Kojima, and celebrity cameos from the likes of Timothée Chalamet.
The Game Awards have enjoyed consistent growth since the first showcase took place in December 2014, to the point where they have become an integral pillar for the community, especially in terms of new reveals and announcements by developers and publishers all around the world. This year’s showcase, like previous years’, was another one to exhibit continued growth for the event.
The Game Awards 2023 has broken its own viewership record, clocking up around 118 million livestreams.
The Game Awards has come and gone again, with 2023's show proving somewhat contentious, depending on who you ask. Something that became increasingly apparent as the show progressed was the pressure winners appeared to be under to wrap things up. Even Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke, who managed to snag Game of the Year with Baldur's Gate 3, appeared to be whisked off the stage after around 30 seconds, surprisingly spry in a suit of armour.
With The Game Awards 2023 now squarely in the rear view mirror, it's time to reflect on what was shown during Geoff Keighley's big end of year bash. Criticisms of the format and actual award presentations aside, the event did give us some significant game reveals.
The Game Awards are always going to be something that is hotly debated for various reasons. But one thing that you must give them, even if you don’t want to, is that because of their platform and being streamed all over the place, they have done incredible numbers from when they started in 2014. They got 1.9 million viewers that first year, which isn’t too bad considering the period. But when you fast forward to 2023, you see just how big things have gotten, as the latest show had 118 million viewers worldwide. That’s a 15% increase from the previous year and proof that the show is still growing.
The Game Awards 2023 broke the event’s viewership record with an estimated 118 million livestreams.
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After his acceptance speech was cut short, Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke has published what he “wanted to say” when Baldur’s Gate 3 took home the top prize at The Game Awards last week.
Swen Vincke, the CEO of Larian Studios, has shared what he wanted to say in his acceptance speech at The Game Awards.
Larian's CEO and founder Swen Vincke has shared the rough full text of his Game Awards 2023 acceptance speech for Baldur's Gate 3's Game of the Year trophy, after having his thoughts cut short by the event's crowded scheduling, which allotted more time to Kojima chitchat, trailers and celebrity cameos than the actual award-winners.
Game developers have a problem with this year’s Game Awards.