"No one was actually cut off," Geoff Keighley defends TGA 2023 from criticism and angers gamers

The Game Awards 2023 was full of interesting announcements, but also moments that generated controversy throughout the industry. The event has been heavily criticized for giving so little camera time to developers and rushing their speeches.

On several occasions, award winners had to cut off their acknowledgements as the event pressed them with an on-screen warning or music. Geoff Keighley, organizer of the awards, is aware of the criticism, so he came to the defense of the event, but also promised improvements.

Keighley responds to criticism to TGA 2023 for cutting winners' speeches

The vast majority of creatives who won an award had very little time to show their appreciation and highlight the work of all their colleagues. Instead, the event allocated much more time to advertisements, commercials and special guests.

Because of this, TGA 2023 and Keighley were severely criticized, as from the perspective of many the work of the developers who, in the end, should be the stars of the show, was not respected. In response, the organizer tried to justify what happened, defended the event and promised improvements for future editions of the award ceremony.

"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," said the organizer.

Players and developers were not satisfied with his justification, so they criticized him for giving so little time to the speeches, which are a fundamental part of an award ceremony. Many reproached him for measuring Larian's time, even when they were making a tribute to a deceased colleague.

Due to this wave of criticism, it is expected that The Game Awards 2024 will improve this section and dedicate more time to the winners' speeches or, at least, not give them only 30 seconds to give some words of thanks. In the end, gamers believe that the event should be a party for developers and not for celebrities or companies.