The Game Awards is an annual awards show created and hosted by Geoff Keighley. This year’s show took place this past Thursday at the Microsoft theater in Down Town Los Angeles. Awards were given across platforms, from console to PC and mobile devices.
The Game Awards felt like an event that celebrated the Other Guy. The focus was on the growth of gaming development and less about retreading triple A titles. The night began with Hideo Kojima receiving the Industry Icon award. Host, Geoff Keighley acknowledged the unfortunate sanctioning by Konami on Kojima. Keighley crafted that negativity into a celebration of Kojima’s achievements and building legacy. The audience celebrated as Hideo Kojima received his award, shared a few words and presented a stunning trailer for his new project Death Stranding.
Midway though the game reveals and award presentations, Ryan Green accepted the Games for Impact award for That Dragon, Cancer. This moment was extremely heartfelt because Ryan allowed for his emotions to show as he acknowledged all the game’s supporters and mentioned the loss of his son Joel who is the main character in the game. The big winner of the night was Blizzard’s Overwatch. The competitive first person multiplayer shooter won Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, Best Multiplayer and Best eSports game. All these awards were well deserved for a new franchise that was strong at launch and has continued to improve with new content, characters and mechanics.
Through all the Gaming excitement and musical performances from Run the Jewels, Doom live and Rae Sremmurd the overall feel within the Microsoft theater was a genuine celebration of the gaming community and culture. The Game Awards seemed to highlight the industries want to take chances and pursue dreams. If one moment could sum up the tone of then evening, it is when Boogie2988 won an award for Trending Gamer. He is a regular guy with a love for gaming and being recognized by the industry was a huge honor and highlight, giving all gamers a feeling of hope and accomplishment.
The Game Awards was an exciting event. The bright and vibrant atmosphere within the theater mirrored the outside setting of Downtown Los Angeles. It was cool to see gamers, creators, developers and entertainers talking and enjoying each others company. I was very happy to have had the opportunity to attend. I can’t wait to come back next year.
*Written by: Alex Perez