The Game Awards have become one of the top video game-related events of the year ever since producer Geoff Keighley hosted the first show back in 2014, while the 2016 edition of the awards will take place in Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theatre on December 1.
Last year’s ceremony was slightly controversial, though, due to the absence of legendary Japanese designer Hideo Kojima, who was behind the Metal Gear Solid video games for almost 30 years when he was working at this former employee Konami.
Kojima had apparently been blocked from attending the 2015 Game Awards by Konami’s lawyers, which prevented the Japanese icon from picking up awards for his 2015 hit game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
This is because Kojima’s relationship with his employee Konami had soured in 2015 for reasons unknown, leading to the removal of Kojima’s name from Metal Gear Solid V’s box cover art, and also to the cancellation of the exciting Silent Hill sequel Kojima was working on with star director Guillermo del Toro.
Actually Konami went as far as removing the game’s teaser demo from the PlayStation Network, in another episode of their ill-treatment of Kojima which no doubt was one of the most controversial video game events of 2015.
Don't miss this: @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN to receive Industry Icon award live at @thegameawards pic.twitter.com/0BKClWl3y8
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) November 17, 2016
It’s 2016 now and Kojima has since left Konami for greener pastures, setting up his new Kojima Productions studio, and is now working on the highly promising Death Stranding, a video game for which we saw a spectacular trailer during this year’s E3 show in Los Angeles. And Kojima will finally be attending The Game Awards this year in order to receive the Industry Icon award, which most people would agree is a well-deserved honour taking into account Kojima’s track record in the video game industry.
Although those who are not fans of Metal Gear Solid or Kojima’s lack of subtlety when it comes to game design might not be thrilled by the news, but taking into account last year’s events and the Japanese designer’s traumatic split up with Konami, it’s hard to argue he’s a bad a choice for this award this year.
Kojima will pick up the Industry Icon award during The Game Awards ceremony on December 1, while the nominees for the remaining awards have already been announced, with Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4 leading the way with a total of eight nominations this year. And hopefully this will be another great show that does the games industry proud, while it’s also great that Kojima will be able to enjoy his return to the limelight this year too.