Earlier this week, the nominations for The Game Awards were announced, and a segment of Palworld fans are expressing their disappointment over the game not securing any nominations.
Yet another year rolls around, bringing with it The Game Awards—a glorified platform for advertisers, where we all have a chance to chat (and maybe gripe) about which games got the kudos they deserved and which ones didn’t. This year, the absence notably felt by some is that of Palworld, the whimsical Pokemon-meets-guns game that took off surprisingly well after its release in January. Despite its unexpected success, the game’s popularity wasn’t enough to earn it a nod—not even in the best ongoing game category. This has left a section of the fanbase feeling rather snubbed.
But what does the Palworld community think? As observed by PC Gamer, their community manager, John Buckley, doesn’t seem to share this sentiment. On his personal Twitter, Buckley posted, “No, I don’t think Palworld was snubbed. Twitter has become such a banterless place. Stop being so over dramatic gamers. Not everything is a conspiracy.” It’s hard to argue when you consider Buckley’s point about the often dramatic atmosphere on Twitter—but it’s doubtful this tweet will change the platform’s nature anytime soon. Nonetheless, Buckley did have a different bone to pick: “That being said…Satisfactory was 1000% snubbed and I’ll be voicing that opinion ad nauseam at The Game Awards in person.” Go get ’em, Buckley!
Meanwhile, developer Pocketpair has bigger fish to fry. In September, they found themselves on the receiving end of a lawsuit from Nintendo over alleged patent infringement—a direction few saw coming. Earlier this month, Pocketpair shared an update detailing the specific patents in question and stated their intention to assert their stance as the legal process continues.