What Happened to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle at The Game Awards 2024?
MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is one of the latest titles to be “disadvantaged” by the Game Awards’ eligibility period.
Each year, the event is a milestone for many games and developers in the gaming industry, honoring the best of the best and often setting the bar for the future of the industry. However, despite the excitement surrounding the ceremony each year, its eligibility period tends to overlook some worthy titles, leaving them with no choice but to wait until next year’s Game Awards and hope they don’t get forgotten. This raises the question of when the annual awards show should be held.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a disappointing failure.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle narrowly avoided missing a nomination at the 2024 Game Awards. Given its importance, especially as part of one of the most popular film franchises with decades of history, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle arguably deserved to be at the 2024 Game Awards, but was left out due to the timing of the awards ceremony. This isn’t the only 2024 title to suffer from this, as STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is another example of a title that could have done well at this year’s Game Awards.
Chances at the Game Awards 2024
The Game Awards 2024 has a lot of strong contenders for Game of the Year, and while Indiana Jones and the Great Circle may not be good enough to make it into that category, it could still do well in other categories. At the very least, its reception deserves recognition, with a Metascore currently sitting at 80. While that doesn’t make it the highest-rated game of 2024, it is one of the highest-rated, and there are a few reasons for that.
To begin with, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle might have earned a nomination for Best Game Direction due to its loyal reimagining of the iconic franchise. It makes sense, then, that it was nominated for Best Score and Music and Best Audio Design, as its music and sound effects are both original and reminiscent of a genuine Indiana Jones movie. Furthermore, Troy Baker’s voice acting is reminiscent of a young Harrison Ford, which could have earned him a nomination for Best Performance in 2024. In short, there are plenty of reasons why Indiana Jones and the Great Circle could have made a big splash at the 2024 Game Awards.
Proposal to change the Game Awards calendar
Unfortunately, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle missed out on the 2024 Game Awards. While the game’s late release could be blamed, the fact that it, along with STALKER 2, missed out on the 2024 edition is evidence that the Game Awards may need to change its annual calendar. For example, January would be a great month for the Game Awards to honor the achievements of titles from the previous year, especially since January is hardly ever a big month for games.
Additionally, since Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will now be a default entry into the 2025 Game Awards, it would be at a huge disadvantage of being forgotten, overshadowed by the busy release schedule of 2025, or both. The best solution for the Game Awards would be to change the timing of the awards to recognize titles released throughout the year rather than just at certain times of the year. This would give more titles each year a fair chance to compete for the recognition some of them deserve.