‘Astro Bot’ win sends message to the gaming industry: Focus on play

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In a games industry grappling with bloated budgets and obsessed with mimicking film, “Astro Bot” winning game of the year at Thursday’s Game Awards might help studios reprioritize.

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The video games industry saw tens of thousands of layoffs in the past two years. PlayStation’s “Concord” was in development for at least six years, reportedly cost at least $200 million if not more, and became the laughingstock of the industry by shutting down less than two weeks after its release due to lack of interest.

A few weeks later, a small team of 60-some members in Japan called Team Asobi released “Astro Bot” on PlayStation 5, winning critical acclaim from everyone including myself. It helped PlayStation recapture goodwill lost from the “Concord” disaster. The smaller game’s win could not be more symbolic, and its importance was unambiguous. Here was a video game that focused on creating feelings of joy and curiosity in its audience. It wasn’t looking to expand an “IP universe” or convince us of its importance through overwrought narratives.

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Here are four other observations from what I thought was the best show put on by the Game Awards so far this decade.

1. One refreshing change for guest appearances

Game Awards creator and host Geoff Keighley has received much criticism for focusing too much on celebrities with wire-thin connections to the medium. True enough, Harrison Ford took the stage and the 82-year-old actor seemed confused at the proceedings, not unlike Al Pacino’s random performance from 2022.

But Keighley made a good call in creating a “game changer” award to honour Amir Satvat, a relatively unknown Connecticut man (and employee of Tencent Games) who said he’s helped almost 3,000 laid off workers find work through an online community he created to provide support. More of that, please.

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2. The real reveals were more surprising than the rumours

Rumours about the game reveals went a bit out of control (“Half-Life 3” being the most ridiculous), but the actual reveals were even more surprising. Legendary game creator Fumito Ueda’s reemergence into game development should be celebrated across the industry, and it’s shocking to see Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya return to his former employer for a sequel to “Okami.”

3. Asia dominated

Asia really dominated the categories and wins this year, and will continue to dominate. A third of this year’s layoffs reportedly happened in California (according to journalist Stephen Totilo). The U.S. side of the games industry needs to reconfigure, relocate and reprioritize as projects take too long and demand too much work from too many people.

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Another message to the games industry: “Balatro” was made by a single man and took home three trophies. It was the only game of the year nominee not developed in Asia.

4. The awards still need some definition

I’m still begging for the categories to be diversified and better curated. Best performance awards favour facial and motion-capture talents while overlooking compelling voice performances. A collection of fighting games from the last century should not have been nominated as best fighting game.

The games industry is choking with new games every month, and it deserves a nomination field that honours the unique ways in which this art form manifests itself, through acting, music or game design.

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