Criticisms rolled in as award winners were allegedly told to cut speeches short during The Game Awards this year. Creator and host Geoff Keighley asserts no one was cut off but does admit that music played too soon and that that would change going forward.
On Twitter, Keighley agreed with the community that the music was starting too fast, but also mentioned how he wanted the team to “relax” it as the show went on. He caps it off by assuring people that no one was actually ever cut off. Notably, footage of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom producer Eiji Aonuma was shared on social media with a 30-second countdown before telling the winner to wrap it up on the teleprompter.
Now, of course, since The Game Awards doubles as a showcase, revealing some of the big hitters coming next year, Keighley would need to reel things back a bit, especially since last year when Kratos voice actor Christopher Judge took the stage and ate up around eight minutes with his acceptance speech. That said, Nintendo Life pointed out that Aonuma seemed to already have a short speech ready that wasn’t likely to linger past the allotted time.
Whatever the case may be, we can totally understand why fans felt miffed, as part of the award show vibe is hearing the winners thank everyone who made it all possible.
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.
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) December 8, 2023
