Geoff Keighley responds to criticisms of The Game Awards 2023

The Game Awards founder Geoff Keighley has responded to criticisms leveled at this year’s ceremony, saying that there were things “to address going forward.”

After over a decade of events, The Game Awards have cemented themselves as the de-facto video game Oscars, and they’ve become one of the most anticipated events in the industry’s calendar.

With 2023 being as good as it was for gaming, this year’s awards were hotly contested, and many viewers had a high investment in each of the categories, especially with big success stories like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2 looking poised to secure big sweeps.

However, the event came under fire for seemingly rushing through acceptance speeches, with winners receiving barely half a minute of time to make their voices heard. In one instance, industry giant Sam Lake was even played off by the music.

Geoff Keighley admits that speech times are “something to address”

In a Tweet posted a day after the Awards, Keighley responded to some of these criticisms, saying: “By the way – I do agree that the music was played too fast for award winners this year, and I asked our team to relax that rule as the show went on.

“While no one was actually cut off, it’s something to address going forward.”

However, some felt that this didn’t acknowledge the awards where the winners didn’t even get an opportunity to speak at all. At several points during the ceremony, a cluster of awards were announced at once, with little fanfare and no chance to speak.

As the Game Awards show no sign of stopping, we’ll have to wait to see if these criticisms are addressed in 2024 next year.

For more news and updates on this year’s Game Awards, check out our breakdown and analysis of every category winner in 2023.