The Academy Awards or the Oscars as they are popularly known are the most prestigious awards for films and entertainment. It is equally prestigious to get a nomination, winning one is a completely different ball game. However, in the recent years, the viewership of the Academy Awards has seen a dip. This does not affect the importance of them, and they are still very prestigious but what is surprising is another set of awards that is gaining immense popularity and viewership.
The Game Awards are the biggest awards in the gaming genre. There are multiple segments, and it is a proper award show appreciating and encouraging all the good work that happened in the community in the past one year. The games that manage to win these awards shoot to popularity and become even more famous than they already were.
These two award shows come from completely different genres of entertainment. One would think that if the Academy Awards are being beaten in viewership then it must be some other film and entertainment award, but that is not the case. The Academy Awards have been criticized because of the supposed politics that goes behind them. It is very controversial with no solid proof but the public seems to draw its belief from these awards.
Gaming saw a major boom in the year 2020 and The Game Awards have played a major role in it. It is based on the review of the game by the audience and does not focus on the revenue part much. A recent tweet highlighted the stark difference between the viewership of the Oscars and TGA.
The Oscars vs The Game Awards ratings
Oscars
2021: 9.8m
2020: 23.6m
2019: 29.6m
2018: 26.6m
2017: 33m
2016: 34.4m
2015: 37.2m
2014: 43.7mTGAs Livestreams
2020: 83m
2019 : 45.2m
2018: 26.2m
2017: 11.5m
2016: 3.8mThe shows are headed in completely opposite directions pic.twitter.com/OiyU5baEZb
— Benji-Sales (@BenjiSales) April 26, 2021
This sudden jump in the number of viewership can not be explained, but it only seems like the future is bright for games, gamers and the community.