It's that time of the year when in the middle of our personal GOTY list scrambles we sit back for a couple of hours to enjoy Geoff Keighley's annual round-up. For the last 10 years, though it's presented as a gong show and celebration, The Game Awards has essentially been a multiplatform conference, a platform for the big three, big third parties, and big indies to come together and get a trailer broadcast to the masses as holiday season approaches.
Say what you like, but you've got to give it to Keighley - it's a big production and pulling off a show of that scale is a hell of a job. Juggling all those names and trying to squeeze in enough variety to showcase the enormous breadth of the industry is no mean feat - and it's been a bumpy ride.
A couple of years ago the show seemed overrun by dreary games set in space, for instance, and the way winners were rushed off stage and told to "wrap it up" — Look, people, we've got another big f2p trailer to run! — felt like confirmation that this is anything but an awards show.
