2023 was a pretty unique year for gaming, not just because of the dichotomy between the high quality of the games launching and the often devastating amount of layoffs that sat alongside them. 2023 also gave us two games that, when we look back on the decade as a whole, may well be at the very top of the pile. But it wasn't just 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Baldur's Gate 3 and Tears of the Kingdom carrying 2023, it was mathematically 💃the best year in two decades, and that meant a lot of games were left wanting in the end of year awards - but if studios care, the campaign starts now.
It was a GOTY like no other at 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Game Awards last year - not only was there no room for any indie representation, but even a pretty well received Final Fantasy game and the biggest selling game of the year didn't make it onto the shortlist. That highest selling game was 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Hogwarts Legacy, which comes with considerable baggage, but in other years that wouldn't have been enough to hold it back. It feels like every December we talk about how the awards could improve, and while the show itself has a lot to answer for, studios need to take it seriously throughout the year, not just when the ballots are in hands and pencils are raised.
I wrote in the aftermath of the nominees, where Hogwarts Legacy was shut out completely, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:that the game was not snubbed. It just wasn't good enough in a year like 2023, and given that the Player's Voice vote soon cast it aside too, that theory holds water. The controversy around Hogwarts Legacy may have cost it votes, but on the other hand, ballots are cast in relative secrecy and none of this controversy stopped the positive coverage the game received at launch from 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Harry Potter superfans, so I doubt it had much of an impact.
What may have had an impact though was the protective attitude around the game, and it's not just hot-button games like Hogwarts Legacy that are victims of this approach. In order to get the best initial coverage, publishers often restrict the amount of review copies they send out. Likewise, once a game is out of the immediate launch window, PR reps naturally move onto the next game on the roster, so if a journalist didn't play it around launch, they either play it months later paying out of their own pocket, or they don't play it at all.
I Don't Have Any Hope Left That The Game Awards Can Change
After ten years it's time to accept that The Game Awards are never going to be m❀ore t♊han a marketing event.
I should note that I consider myself to have a good relationship with most PR staff I work with, and they're often very reasonable and helpful, and may well send you a code for specific coverage purposes if you ask, even if it's outside the ideal window. But across the length and breadth of the jury for The Game Awards, not to mention that several sites vote by committee, you're pouring populism on populism, and that means the games that get played the most tend to get the most votes. Few would argue with the GOTY nominees last year, but the fact some fantastic indies like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:A Space for the Unbound or 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Slay the Princess were relega🎃ted to token categories or absent completely underlines the fact that the more people who have played a game, the more vo𝓡tes it gets.
Yes the process could be more curated (both by the organisation and by jury effort), yes expert voters in specific genre categories would see higher quality nominees, and yes games like A Space for the Unbound or Slay the Princess are less protective of codes and it’s on the press to seek these experiences out. I understand all of that, and know there are many angles from which The Game Awards as whole could be improved. Maybe the GOTY winner shoulꦫd get more time than Gonzo, who am I to say?
But gaming lacks any appreciation for a For Your Consideration campaign - for the Oscars, you can send out screeners or even host a screening somewhere, but with games (given the much longer time investment required) if publishers are serious about these end of year celebrations, they need to realise it's not just in December. We've been on the jury before, and it's not until a couple of weeks before voting when code offers for potential nominees start appearing - hardly long enough to make an informed choice across all the games, especially when a site has multiple people communicating.
Sure, it's on journalists to be up on major releases anyway, but then we circle back around to protective launches and news cycle windows. Gaming is expensive, and when so much of the brunt of the industry is carried by freelancers (who rarely get a vote in these things), a proper FYC campaign where a game can get as much oxygen as possible not only makes something like The Game Awards more informed, it leads to better end of year lists at your favourite sites, a more diverse roster of games getting the spotlight, a more experienced press, and generates more coverage for games that may have been overlooked. An email with a list of all the games a studio released in a year just doesn't cut it.
2024 will be a smaller year than 2023,🍨 but that means the games that would have been overlooked in 2023 have a chance to shine brighter. I hope they all g🌳et every chance they deserve to make an impact.
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth Is Already 2024's Dark Horse
Like a Dragon: Inꦑfinite Wealth could be an early 2024 G🍎OTY frontrunner as Yakuza finally gets its due
