Unlike The Game Awards, the GDC Awards didn’t shy away from industry layoffs and the situation in Gaza
During both the Indie Game Awards and GDC Awards, multiple devs spoke out about major issues facing the world, and the games industry.
The GDCAs were hosted last night during GDC 2024. While various awards were given out and developers celebrated as expected, the stage also was used by winners to shine a spotlight on a variety of important ongoing issues. This includes the current state of the video game industry and the huge waves of layoffs we've seen, as well as the ongoing war in Gaza.
This includes (but is absolutely not limited to) the devs behind Mediterranea Inferno, who stated that publishers and platform owners have an obligation to make sure developers "not just survive, but thrive", the Anthology of the Killer team writing "f*ck the IDF and free Palestine" in their acceptance video, and host Alanah Pearce tackling layoffs as part of her opening monologue.
"People who normally attend GDC every year have had to cancel because coming here is sort of an extravagant luxury when you don't know when your next paycheque is coming," said Pearce.
These vocal statements stand in stark contrast to a variety of other video game awards shows, who have historically shied away from platforming such statements on the main stage in favour of adverts and sponsored beats.
No award winners were rushed off stage here, either, with lifetime achievement award winner Yoko Shimomura giving a lenghty speech on her personal history in game development. There was even a small jab at the "please wrap it up" fiasco that took place at last year's Game Awards (pictured below).
Those given the biggest platform to speak out often did and at great length, including Abhi - designer on Venba, and recepiant of the Best Debut, Social Impact, and Seumas McNally Grand Prize awards.
When asked why they took this opportunity to speak out about such issues, Abhi told VG247: "I think there's a lot of cognitive dissonance hosting an awards show at a time like this, and to me that makes it the perfect platform".