The Game Awards largely consists of game marketing with a couple of awards thrown out here and there, which makes it a pretty poor way to reward long-suffering game developers for their hard work on the games that keep this industry alive.
One of the few bright spots, however, has been the Future Class, a program launched to “honor individuals around the world who represent the bright, bold, and inclusive future for video games whose voices elevate, diversify, and further our artform”, according to an archived version of the program’s website captured on the Wayback Machine. That website now no longer exists.
The Future Class is important. In an industry plagued by political polarisation since the first Gamergate and which, historically, has been hostile towards marginalised people, the Future Class is a way to champion diversity in and adjacent to the gaming industry. It recognises the achievements of people who are easily overlooked by the mainstream. While it might not be wholly effective in giving those people adequate resources or support (more on that later), it’s still an award with some weight to it.
Where Has The Future Class Gone?
But this year, there doesn’t seem to be a Future Class batch. The program never called for nominations, and with a month to go before the ceremony, there hasn’t been anything announced either. The official TGA Twitter account is still sharing profiles of last year’s group, but hasn’t mentioned anything about 2024.
A report from Game Developer claims that Future Class organiser Emily Bouchac said that the organisation is “currently focused on providing value to [its] existing class in and around TGA this year,” and that the program will “evaluate next steps for the program after this year’s show”. A Future Class alumnus I spoke to confirmed that they were told the same thing.
According to Game Developer, Future Class members had made a presentation that criticised some points of the program. This included a lack of financial accommodations for alumni to attend the show, a lack of accommodations for members with disabilities who struggled to see the show, and concern over the lack of support and resources after the show ended, especially for international members, among others. Presumably, Bouchac was alluding to these concerns when she mentioned “providing value”.
The same Future Class alumnus confirmed to me that they have been provided free accommodation and tickets for the upcoming show, indicating that TGA may indeed be beefing up its support for existing members.
But doing a quick search reveals that, at the time of writing, the Future Class website now returns a 404 server error, indicating that for some reason, the website has been taken down. The page, which previously showcased previous batches of members and explained the program, can no longer be viewed. While this doesn’t necessarily indicate that Future Class has been discontinued altogether, it doesn’t exactly bode well.
I’d be remiss not to mention that last year, dozens of members (and thousands of others besides) signed an open letter to Geoff Keighley and Bouchac calling for The Game Awards to recognise the humanitarian crisis still ongoing in Gaza. The letter asked for a statement to be read in their name expressing “support for the protection of Palestinian human rights” and calling for “a long-term ceasefire”.
The conflict was not acknowledged during the broadcast. If the Future Class program is indeed being ended this year, the timing is at best, unfortunate, and at worst, damning.
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The Future Class Needs To Stay
This would be a huge loss for the gaming industry. The Future Class is one of the few official channels where diversity and inclusivity is championed, in a climate where those things are increasingly being stifled.
The awards are already failing to give the people powering the industry their flowers, and losing the Future Class would mean more opportunities for the people behind the games we love being snatched away. The Future Class should stay, and if it doesn’t, that’s just another nail in the coffin for The Game Awards.
The Game Awards
Founded by Geoff Keighley, The Game Awards is a video games event centered on celebrating the best of the year’s titles, with emphasis on reveals and promos for upcoming launches.