When it comes to most outlets like our own, the coveted Game of the Year honor is only ever considered for games that released, you know, within that calendar year. That said, perhaps the biggest gaming awards show of the year doesn’t abide by these same standards.
In a new discussion with The Game Awards host and producer Geoff Keighley on Kinda Funny’s We Have Cool Friends podcast, Keighley explained a bit more of the reasoning behind the show’s voting process. Even though it has been commonplace with The Game Awards for years at this point, Keighley stressed that he isn’t the one that decides which games are nominated, even though he is essentially the face of the program. All games chosen for the separate categories at The Game Awards are selected by various participants and publications that are part of a larger voting panel.
Keighley was then asked about the show’s stance when it comes to games that are highly-popular within a given year even though they didn’t technically release within that same period of time. Again restating that this has been a longstanding rule, Keighley said that games such as Among Us and Hades, which while they may have formally come out a few years back, are absolutely able to qualify for various awards at the show. “If people decide that Among Us is one of the best games of 2020, the fact that it came out in 2018 — totally fine by me,” he expressed.
Keighley took his whole explanation one step further and said that with the way games continue to grow and change over time, he wouldn’t be surprised if one day there is a game that wins Game of the Year in back to back years at The Game Awards. “I treat our show now sort of like the Emmys treats seasons of TV shows. Breaking Bad can win Best Show two years in a row at the Emmys because it has two seasons, right? So why can’t Fortnite win Game of the Year four years after it came out if that was the best [of the] year compared to every other game out there?” Keighley posed.
While I’m sure that some folks out there won’t agree with the process by which The Game Awards is going with, I honestly find this all pretty darn refreshing. The fact that The Game Awards is looking to do something of this nature makes the way by which it gives out honors that much more intriguing. And when every other publication or award show that might exist in the gaming space is doing things in the classic manner of only accepting submissions based on the calendar year itself, The Game Awards has found a way to separate itself from everyone else.
As for The Game Awards this year, the show is still set to take place on Thursday, December 10, 2020. Those nominated for awards at the show this year will likely be announced in November, so stay tuned.
The post Geoff Keighley Reiterates that Titles Released in Previous Years Can Qualify for GOTY at The Game Awards by Logan Moore appeared first on DualShockers.