In case you missed it, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom won Best Action/Adventure Game at this year’s Game Awards event in Los Angeles.
Fans, however, are a bit miffed at the organisers of the show as it appears that during Eiji Aonuma’s acceptance speech, a teleprompter urged the long-time Zelda producer to “wrap it up”.
As noted by our pals over at Push Square, it seems that many well-respected individuals in the industry received the same treatment during their acceptance speeches, but given Aonuma’s legendary status, many have taken issue with the strict time constraints.
There are, of course, multiple factors to consider with this. An awards show that also doubles as a platform for game announcements is always going to be a tricky beast to schedule, so, understandably, the organisers will want to keep things moving at a brisk pace.
It’s also likely a direct result of an acceptance speech from last year’s event delivered by God of War voice actor Christopher Judge, which many in the industry deemed to be far too lengthy. One final note to consider is that Aonuma seemingly had a relatively short speech written out before his time on stage, so it’s unlikely he would have lingered for too long regardless.
It’s a tricky balancing act, to be sure, but we’re hopeful that Geoff Keighley will take the feedback on board and give developers a little bit more time on stage next year. After all, without them, there wouldn’t be a Game Awards show.