Summary
Every year, the Game Awards ceremony serves as the defining moment for a lot of games and developers in the industry, highlighting some of that year’s best achievements in gaming and often setting benchmarks for the industry’s future. However, despite the excitement that surrounds the ceremony each year, its eligibility window tends to leave some otherwise deserving games in a frustrating limbo, sometimes leaving them with no choice but towait until the next year’s Game Awardsand hope they haven’t been forgotten. MachineGames’Indiana Jones and the Great Circleis one of the latest casualties of this ongoing issue, putting the ceremony’s annual date into question.
The reasonIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s near miss of being nominated for anything at the 2024 Game Awards is so disappointing is how much the game has going for it. Given its significance, especially belonging to one of the most popular film franchises that is now several decades old,Indiana Jones and the Great Circlearguably belonged at the 2024 Game Awards, and yet has been left out due to the ceremony’s annual date. It’s not the only game in 2024 to have that story either, asSTALKER 2: Heart of Chornobylis another example of a game that might have performed well at this year’s Game Awards.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Belonged at the 2024 Game Awards
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Would Have Performed Well at the 2024 Game Awards
2024’s Game Awards has a lot of bignominees in line for Game of the Year, and whileIndiana Jones and the Great Circlemight not have been great enough to be included in that list of nominees, it nonetheless would have performed well in other categories. Its reception, at least, merits it plenty of recognition, with its Metascore currently resting comfortably in the high 80s. While that doesn’t make it the highest-scoring game of 2024, it is one of the highest, and there are several reasons for that.
If nothing else,Indiana Jones and the Great Circlewould have put up a fight for 2024’s Best Action Adventure Game.
Firstly,Indiana Jones and the Great Circlemight have been up forBest Game Direction, due to its faithful recreation of the iconic IP. It would therefore also make sense for it to receive a nomination for Best Score and Music and Best Audio Design, as its music and sound effects are original and yet sound like an authenticIndiana Jonesfilm. Furthermore, Troy Baker’s impression of a young Harrison Ford is absolutely something worth writing home about, which might have put him up for Best Performance in 2024. All in all, there are plenty of reasons whyIndiana Jones and the Great Circlemight have made a big splash at the 2024 Game Awards.
It Might Be Time for the Game Awards to Change Its Annual Date
Unfortunately,Indiana Jones and the Great Circlemissed its window for inclusion at2024’s Game Awards. While the blame could simply be shifted to the game itself for not launching sooner, its place alongsideSTALKER 2in 2024 is proof that the Game Awards might need to change its annual date. January, for example, would be a great month for the Game Awards to celebrate the accomplishments of the previous year’s games, especially since January is almost never a big month for gaming.
Additionally, sinceIndiana Jones and the Great Circlewill now default to 2025’s Game Awards, it is at an extreme disadvantage of either being forgotten, being overshadowed by2025’s stacked release calendar, or both. The best route for the Game Awards to take from here would be to change its annual eligibility date to recognize games that are released throughout an entire year rather than simply up to a certain point in that year. This would give more games each year a greater fighting chance to earn the acclaim that some of them are often due.
