The Game Awards 2019 was a long event, yet it felt like they were trying to cram in as much as possible. The three hour long program was a rapid stream of guests, trailers, and presentations, with little time to breathe in between. This seemed by design. Perhaps creator Geoff Keighley and the other producers know that viewers find other award shows to be a slog. Or maybe they wanted to fit in as many sponsors as possible. Whatever the reason, it resulted in certain awards being shoved to the pre-show. One of these rushed awards was Best Fighting Game, and that's disrespectful.
The Game Awards technically began at 6 p.m. PST, but a pre-show started at 5:30 p.m. It took place on the main stage, sure. It had reveals and guests. It also had award presentations. But from the way it was handled, it felt like an afterthought (pre-thought?).
Geoff Keighley himself did not take the stage. A different host appeared on the side stage and promptly disappeared at 6 p.m. Developers came on to talk, but the focus was more on community and games that foster social awareness. While those things are important to gaming culture and possibly the world as a whole, it was telling that figures like Hideo Kojima and Reggie Fils-Amie were nowhere to be seen. That lack of pomp extended to the way pre-show awards were handed out. Just look at how Best Fighting Game was presented.
The whole way that went down felt lackluster, right? Especially when you consider that the award-winner was Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a massive achievement of a game from one of the biggest companies in gaming history.
There's also the fact that the category in question was fighting games. It's a genre that has existed since the early days of video games. Arcade gaming grew largely because of fighting games, and esports would hardly be what it is today without the spectacle of fighting game tournaments. The Fighting Game Community has gaming's most passionate fans. Pretty much everything about fighting games suggest that the genre deserves a prominent place in The Game Awards.
The problem seems to be the many trailers and reveals we've come to expect from The Game Awards. While opportunities to get hype are always welcome, they steal time from the actual purpose of the show – honoring the games of the past year and the people who made them. The structure of this year's show put more emphasis on reveals than ever before.
Hopefully the 2020 Game Awards will correct this thinking. Geoff Keighley and The Game Awards deserve credit for putting on a great show for the industry. It's just that if Epic Games can have ten minutes to talk about Star Wars content coming to Fortnite, Best Fighting Game can have a spot in the main show.