The Game Awards significantly boosted the visibility and sales of winning games like Expedition 33, which saw a dramatic increase in daily sales and Steam followers post-event, highlighting the awards' impact on game engagement and commercial success, while other nominees experienced minimal effects.
The announcement of Hollow Knight: Silksong's release on September 4 has led several indie developers to delay their upcoming games to avoid overshadowing or conflicting with the highly anticipated title, highlighting the challenges small studios face in marketing and release planning amidst major game launches.
Nexon has faced criticism for using AI-generated ads that mimic real content creators to promote The First Descendant, instead of featuring actual players, which has disappointed the game's community and raised ethical concerns about AI in marketing.
The recent Steam Next Fest was dominated by two massive strategy games, Homeworld 3 and Stormgate, which raised concerns about overshadowing smaller indie games that could benefit more from the event's discoverability. While the festival aims to provide exposure for up-and-coming titles, the presence of these highly anticipated games, with established fan bases and significant press coverage, raised questions about the fairness of the event's charts and the potential impact on smaller developers.