Gamescom Opening Night Live was pretty good this year. While we didn’t see anything from Halo Infinite’s campaign, the show was still packed with exciting announcements, unexpected reveals, and a sense of showmanship that only supreme gamer Geoff Keighley is capable of exuding. However, it was also ripe with the corporate cynicism that seeps into similar events like The Game Awards or several E3 conferences. Each jaw-dropping moment is followed by a cringe-inducing marketing section or obtuse pacing that completely throws off the flow of what should be a consistent stream of trailers, interviews, and industry insight that engage both hardcore and casual players alike.
But if I’m being brutally honest, Opening Night Live didn’t have that steady flow of a gaming based variety show, and it never has. Despite what it pretends to be, it’s a showcase designed to abide by the corporate whims of major publishers. They’re the ones paying to keep the lights on, and while I admire Geoff Keighley’s enthusiasm to highlight smaller developers and independent projects, so much of this feels moot when you immediately transition into an extended section on Call of Duty: Vanguard – with any mention of publishers Activision expunged from the spotlight – or a misplaced advertisement that has clearly been paid for and positioned to ensure it gets our full attention.
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The Game Awards is far more egregious in this regard, but last night’s event still had a handful of moments where I was taken out of the rhythm of things and found myself staring at the screen in utter disbelief. For a few years now, Gamescom has given out awards for the best games for each platform alongside a handful of other accolades that feel hollow, coming across as little more than marketing tools for games that already have a massive audience waiting to consume them anyway.
The weirdest thing is, all of the nominees are games that aren’t even out yet, with Elden Ring being nominated multiple times and even winning a few awards throughout the show. Why? I understand we want to celebrate games we’re excited for, but throwing out awards for them being ‘the best’ feels insincere and damaging, even more so when the winners have been chosen simply so a fancy logo can be smacked on marketing materials. Winners were chosen and interviewed ahead of the show, so there was no surprise or spectacle to proceedings. It was just Keighley going through the motions before jumping onto the next big trailer. We’re here to show off big games whose slots have potentially been paid for by the highest bidder, or were lucky enough to fall into the laps of the right people at the right time. It’s hard to work myself up about things like this when so much of it feels false.
For years, The Game Awards has been critiqued for making the ‘Awards’ part of the show feel like an afterthought. A handful of trophies are given out on stage and the Game of the Year is treated with a deserved amount of hype, but so many are announced in the pre-show, or quickly declared amidst a sea of world premiere trailers, performances, and advertisements. I understand the monetary reality, and how Keighley is likely forced to work with sponsors, big publishers, and brands in order to put the show on each and every year and reach the audience he’s striving for. However, it always feels like the artistic integrity of the affair is being thrown away, making it all seem like a child’s stage play compared to the Emmys, Academy Awards, or Golden Globes. Even the Grammys and the Tonys, which both fill their award shows with guest spots and entertainment over the awards, use the show to celebrate the current nominees, not advertise what might be next years’.
This medium is still in its relative infancy, and shows like Gamescom and E3 are a perfect example of that. Perhaps it took a greater look at things and thought about growing up a little bit? I’m all for yearly events that emphasize awe and hype above all else, but there must be a better way to go about it.
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