Why Fans Are Furious Over The Game Awards' Star Wars Announcement
This year's Game Awards ceremony got off to a strong start. On the evening of Dec. 9, host Geoff Keighley took the stage and almost immediately made a statement decrying acts of abuse and harassment in the gaming community. Keighley had previous announced that Activision would not have a presence at the Game Awards event, citing the company's ongoing lawsuits and accusations of workplace toxicity as factors in the decision. The Game Awards have been applauded for this stance, but it seems as though one of the evening's big announcements may have squandered that good will.
Shortly after Geoff Keighley's opening remarks, the Game Awards debuted a trailer for "Star Wars Eclipse," a long-rumored title from French video game developer Quantic Dream. And although an immersive "Star Wars" title from the minds behind such adventure games as "Heavy Rain" and "Detroit: Become Human" sounds like an exciting prospect, the trailer instead caused an uproar among gaming fans.
Quantic Dreams has a lot of baggage
Quantic Dream came under fire in 2018 when reports began circulating that accused the company of abusive and toxic behavior, all of which was allegedly allowed by company founder David Cage. Quantic Dream denied these reports outright, kicking off a series of legal battles. These cases took a bizarre turn when Cage allegedly began crying in court and repeatedly asked if he could lie on the stand. Needless to say, these events and more left a bad taste in many gamers' mouths.
Twitter began blowing up with reactions from fans who couldn't believe their eyes and wanted to reiterate their stance on Quantic Dream. Some expressed a feeling of "whiplash" after seeing the studio's name at the end of the "Star Wars: Eclipse" trailer. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier may have summed up the overall response best when he tweeted, "We at The Game Awards take a strong stance against harassment of any kind. Now here's a new game from Quantic Dream."
Although it's likely that "Star Wars Eclipse" will attract droves of excited "Star Wars" fans, it looks as though Quantic Dream's involvement will be enough to turn others away.