Do The Game Awards 2021 Nominations truly represent a Year's worth of Gaming?

I am currently at a standstill. Just like the end of every other year we await eagerly for the biggest celebration of gaming and gamers, “The Game Awards”, the place were developers are -supposedly- rewarded for their hard work, and gamers get the chance to see their support pay off not just in sales numbers but in accolades and testimonials, but this year one has to stop and wonder, does this event truly represents a year’s worth of gaming knowledge and accomplishments?

The known analyst Jez Corden has written an article about the issue of representation and diversity of gaming in the game awards, mainly symbolized by the total absence of Forza Horizon 5, among other things. The article criticizes some of the common practices of the awards system, and how votes are being collected. However, I would like to think the problem is more critical and essential than some games missing the chance to be on a list.

Not Enough Time

Do gamers actually know what games are being released on a regular basis? and does everyone have the complete picture of what every game is supposed to convey or achieve? It’s really hard to answer that with a satisfying retort, since hundreds and hundreds of games are being released frequently, and many of them require long periods of investment. Time is a luxury many of us don’t have, not gamers nor reviewers.

Many review codes are handed weeks or even a month before the game’s release, but in all honesty, that doesn’t leave much to appreciate what the game truly wants to say. A game that has been many years in the making cannot properly be absorbed in a single instance, many ideas and impressions need time to be truly digested and acknowledged, and I am afraid many reviews address the games they handle prematurely in that regard.

Nowadays, if you want to actually know what the game is truly about, ask someone who spent a considerable time with it, gave it a replay or two, exchanged opinions with other fans who maybe have a better idea about the game and the underlying history behind it, and maybe you will rediscover the love you didn’t think you could have for any game or story, or change your misconceptions about your first experience with anything, not just games.

People everywhere are too quick to lay judgement on video games without leaving any space for reconsideration, and each person tries the game while enclosed in their own bubble, unaware of the current perception of the topics or ideas the game represents. While each person is entitled to their own opinion, I fear that many achievements go under the Rader, or get discarded entirely just because of the first exposure bias.

Wasted Determination

Video Games, unlike other mediums are not set in stone. They receive constant updates, expansions, and incentives for reapproaching them from a different angle, however the game awards event does not reflect that at all, they only contain a set of individualistic opinions in closed bubbles based on specific time periods, while gamers themselves spend much longer hours with each game and have a higher awareness about the state of development, now and in the possible future as well.

If I am a game developer, why should I continue to support my game with updates and listen to fans’ feedback if I am only going to be judged professionally for my first misstep, and when I actually try to do something productive, will review numbers change to reflect these new addition and efforts? The one positive aspect of games, which is not being concrete lumps of material like movies and books, is being tarnished because of a system that treats games like any other medium, despite being vastly different from them in every way.

Video games have removed themselves from the concept of time since long ago, so why are we still praising them only during the start of their life journey, and then throw them aside when they underachieve. Of course I understand that preliminary reviews are important for actually addressing the issues that needs to change, but the media (and by default the awards) does not care about that unless the game is released in the form of a remaster or a remake or something similar.

See games for what they truly are

If anything, the jury should change their criteria to reflect the ever changing state of video games, and judge games based on what they actually deserve, not what we think they need to become. The goal is to love video games, and continue to support developers to make even better games, but with the way things are going, only games that succeed in leaving that first impression and leaving with a flair are the ones that gets represented, while others are doomed to drown in obscurity and lack of recognition.

I am tired of seeing games getting thrown aside just because they don’t fit into the current spiral of misplaced attention. Even games that I am awaiting dearly, I know by heart that they will never be seen for what they truly represent. Some games have a message that could change lives, and others can give players countless hours of time, even us grow up and change our mindsets about various things, why can’t we do the same with games, especially because they grow up and change with us.

Judge games for how they are truly handled by the players, the potential they can achieve, the dreams they can create. You can’t put a number on imagination, and love takes time to nurture and bear fruit. Give yourself reasons to change and rethink your early opinions, and when you finally reach the correct new answer, based on the “current” state of each game, you should consider giving out some new scores and achievements to today’s videogames, and not yesterday’s not anymore existent builds.