It's probably a little bit counterproductive of me, a writer for a video game website, to be getting tired of the hints towards what we should expect at the next videogame extravaganza, but here we are. The Game Awards are taking place tomorrow night, and host Geoff Keighley has been teasing announcements and special guests for the past few days now, but his latest reveal goes a little too far in my opinion. We now know that a new Far Cry game will be shown tomorrow night, and while I wasn't a big fan of the series' fifth iteration, that's still a big announcement. I ask: Why couldn't all of that be saved for the actual event taking place within the next 35 hours?
Many, many people use the rebuttal that you're simply buying into a publisher's hype machine by tuning into these sorts of shows and fuelling the likes of pre-orders, but I simply cannot help it. I get very excited for any sort of event that will play host to new game announcements, I book an entire week off work for E3, and I keep track of every piece of news and industry happening. It's obvious that I share this passion with every one of you too, but for me personally, when I see Mr. Keighley taking to Twitter to tell me that I should expect more footage of RAGE 2, I just sort of sigh.
The wind is taken out of the reveal's sails, tomorrow night I'll be sat there waiting for Bethesda's trailer to pass me by so that we can actually get on to the things we don't know about. Whereas if no such tease existed, two more minutes of footage with a release date at the end is far more likely to have me excited. Of course it hasn't been explicitly stated that they're there to pull the curtain off of Square Enix's Avengers title, but imagine if the Russo Brothers turned up out of the blue, instead of letting the cat of the bag a few days ago. There's a good possibility that the likes of Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America will be taking to The Game Awards' stage, but it has gotten to the point where we sort of already expect it. But then if it doesn't happen, there's the sense of disappointment that stems from something we didn't even know for sure would happen in the first place. That's a whole other topic though.
I completely understand why the likes of Geoff Keighley do this sort of thing, they need to pull in audiences from every demographic of gaming to ensure a high viewer count throughout the ceremony. They need the Fortnite reveal so that Ninja brings with him his viewership, the Russo Brothers so that Marvel fans tune in, and Phil Spencer from Xbox in anticipation of another studio acquitision, but for someone who was going to watch anyway, it just doesn't speak to me in any sort of positive manner.
Of course there will still be those big surprises that nobody saw coming tomorrow night, and I'll revel in them, but to think there could be so many more. I'm fine with celebrity presenter reveals and musical performance teaser prior to the event, but let's save what really matters, the games, for the night itself. The new Far Cry title could have been one of those big announcements we're talking about days later, but now it's just another footnote in an upcoming event we already seem to know much of the landscape of. It's about striking the right balance between making sure certain demographics of people tune in and having surprises on the night, and I don't think The Game Awards has gone about it correctly this time around.
Do you agree with Liam that the amount of teases towards what's coming next is getting a little bit too much? Or do you enjoy them? Predict an announcement in the comments below.
Comments 31
I get where you're coming from: you're tuning in anyway so you don't need any incentive to watch. But I think you're probably in the minority with that regard. The vast majority of people will have the attitude of "I'll just see what happened after" and so it's really important that the hype machine is churning otherwise no one is going to watch.
The business model for this is built on viewers, so he needs eyes otherwise he can't sell ads.
Sounds like Liam wants to skip the massage and get right to the happy ending.
Wham bam thank you ma'am.
@rjejr n do you still drink Wilkins coffee.😂word up son
I agree with this article. I love big surprises, and I'm less interested in a reveal if it is heavily hinted at before. It's the same reason that I try to avoid leaks.
Either way, I'll be asleep during the show, and will catch up on the game announcements the next morning.
@playstation1995 I was going to be disappointed when I clicked on your email if it didn't say that.
I get you. I'm getting tired of it too. Getting teased and teased again. And when it happens, I'm like "Ah, cool." Either that, or just ultimately disappointed with the end result. It's why I try to keep my expectations fairly low these days.
I’ve got to say I feel exactly the same as Liam but have to agree with @get2sammyb they know people like us will watch anyway so announcing things like the Russo Bros could bring in a broader range of viewers. Although they shouldn’t have shared the Rage 2 trailer was happening & the Far Cry thing. With regards to those 2 though, I quite like the look of Rage 2 & if Far Cry is going Post Apocalyptic then I hope it’s not just going to follow the Far Cry formula because if that’s the case then I’ll be sticking with Rage 2. There’s only room for so many post apocalypse and since Fallout 76 the floor is open for someone to swoop in.
I feel you and I still remember the E3 edition of monthly magazines, every page had a surprise. It's difficult to keep a secret nowadays with the internet and the professional leakers. Even Walmart spoiled E3 recently.
I think some surprise like new farcry or crash team racing remastered should keep hidden, but something like russo brothers show up is okay so marvel fans show up/watching the show.
I can understand the frustration. I constantly lament how there's few genuine surprises in the industry now. Even some of the most out there things seem to end up on everyone's prediction list. At the same time, the teasing doesn't always result in what's expected, and people can do it just to twist your expectations and pull a swerve. I keep that in mind whenever these big events come around.
I'll be awake and no doubt will be watching it sorta in work but I am also of the belief that major releases shouldnt be teased at all and just dropped to really freak us out
I completely agree
I’m not that bothered by these early reveals, Liam, but I completely understand your point of view. After all, as far as I’m aware, being a journalist for this site is your bread and butter, so this industry is far more present in your daily life.
These early reveals take away the ‘whole-package experience’ from the actual event. It’s like having plot spoilers before seeing a movie, or a tv show, or reading a book. The entertainment event has a beginning, middle and end, but knowing significant bits of it beforehand will lessen the impact.
@funkyflounder83 This is your second warning now. Let's watch the language next time can earn you a vacation from the site.
Thanks for understanding
I agree but Pushsquare is just as guilty with the constant unnecessary 'rumours' which are not even rumours sometimes but just educated guesses from other sites.they could have come up with themselves.
@get2sammyb
No I think your wrong there in term of what content they want to tease. They didn't need a trailer for the next Far Cry for instance. Just a tweet hinting something would have been enough. Then yes it's up to the press to build up on it with guesses (not quoting one another s guesses as rumours)
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi absolutely! I hope Jeff cranks up the cringe factor to max.
But seriously, the whole entertainment industry should announce things earliest 3-6 months prior to the release. Save money on advertising and better manage expectations.
@PS_Nation I miss the days of monthly magazine. I'm a Nintendo geek first and foremosts but during the Gamecube days I used to buy the Official Nintendo mag, NGC mag and Cube mag. Could spend hours reading them and there'd always be something I had missed when trawling back through old copies, or I'd find a new game that I was seemingly not bothered about back when my tastes were slightly different.
I agree. And as Xbox has proven from their last few E3s, they run the risk of over-hyping and under-delivering. I'd rather that they simply said it will be a good show with new announcements and left it at that. Due to the time zone differences I'm not 100% sure I'll tune in live but it'll be the first thing I watch in the morning if not.
I would also think as a developer and publisher after spending millions on a videogame I may want to make sure the game does not get lost between other announcements. That way a small leak or a teaser (as Far Cry did) secures some attention given to your game. Imagine if the Avengers game gets announced, plus a release date for some of the PS exclusives as rumored, then that's it, your game will be forgotten
@Gilvin
A hint on twitter like Bioware did works just as well. Imagine if they just posted a nuke mushroom. People would be freaking out.
I'm just here for the awards.
I agree with the article - I think hype is needed but not details. Rather than say, a new Far Cry game, why not say, big announcement incoming from Ubisoft? Be cryptic. I mean, it works for Kojima.
@Tasuki right I dunno if you’re amending my comments to remove the “bad language” or what but I’ve read both comments & I see no bad language. I don’t know if you’re at the wind up either with this Joker pic. If you are belter if not then I have no clue what your talking about
we already know everything who'll shows up tonight
where is the surprise? why so many rumours and leaks?
given the the UK time it's on, i was never going to watch it anyway. but then a show largely about an industry self-congratulating itself is a hard sell. i don't watch the oscars, emmys, baftas etc. either.
@crimsontadpoles
maybe we'll see something that has not leaked
I see it like the trailers or TV show adverts getting you to tune in to watch the show. If you like FC or Rage, then maybe you will tune in to the Game Awards to see these games.
Just hearing that 10 games are due to be revealed doesn't necessarily encourage everyone as those could be 10 'indies' and if you aren't interested in indies, you can wait to read all the results. Hearing that games like Cyberpunk and Last of Us 2 won't be there may also put people off from watching - especially in the UK (or EU) because off the time differences.
Being teased about franchises and games you are interested in making their 'debut' at the Game Awards in the early hours may well encourage a lot more to tune in. I don't tune in to see who won myself....
@JJ2 True, but what if then everyone goes crazy thinking is a new IP and then dissapointment hits because is Far Cry?
Then again, if they get flustered by "what if's" then they should not be marketing videogames.
I concede to your point, the teaser without the Far Cry logo would have been better
@Rudy_Manchego I think it works for Kojima because is Kojima, you kind of always know what he's working on even if you have no clue, as is the case with Death Stranding.
Couldn't agree more, Liam. Every show now is like getting to open all your presents in the week before Christmas, then being annoyed on the day that there's nothing for you.
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