Let’s pretend it’s awards season. Again. Celebrities are crying on stage, critics are arguing over what “counts as cinema,” and someone is giving a standing ovation to a three-hour movie where nothing happens except emotional devastation. Meanwhile, in the gaming world, someone just spent 60 hours sobbing into a controller over a scene involving a horse – probably funded by a late-night impulse to buy a PlayStation Network gift card online and emotionally wreck themselves in high definition.
So here’s the question: do video games deserve an Oscar? Or, at the very least, a seat at the table next to the tortured screenwriters and moody directors?
Spoiler: yes. But let’s unpack why.
Gaming Is Storytelling… with Extra Trauma
Sure, a movie can make you feel something in two hours. That’s cute. A video game, on the other hand, will spend ten hours making you bond with a character just to emotionally body-slam you in a cutscene that leaves you hollow inside. These aren’t just “games.” They’re interactive trauma simulators. And they’re good at it.
Titles like The Last of Us, God of War, or Red Dead Redemption 2 aren’t just digital shooting galleries – they’re complex, layered narratives with acting performances that could emotionally dismantle an entire film festival panel. If some guy whisper-crying into a handheld camera can win Best Actor, surely a grizzled warrior dad voiced by Christopher Judge deserves something.
Cinematic Games Are Already Better Than Most Films
Let’s be honest: half the movies nominated this year could have been improved by a quick-time event. Meanwhile, modern games already come with A-list actors, fully orchestrated soundtracks, motion-capture performances, and enough cinematic camera angles to make Tarantino weep (probably into someone’s feet, but still).
And yet, when awards season comes around, games are stuck in their own separate corner like the weird kid at Thanksgiving. Sure, there’s The Game Awards, but giving Best Narrative to a 90-hour RPG is not the same as seeing it walk away with a golden statue while Hans Zimmer nods approvingly in the background.
What Would a Gaming Oscar Even Look Like?
Imagine it: the lights dim, the envelope opens, and instead of “Best Picture,” the announcer says, “Best Side Quest That Made Us Cry.” Or “Best Use of a Dog in Emotional Storytelling.” Or “Best Game That Pretended It Was Chill but Destroyed Us Inside” (looking at you, Outer Wilds). Honestly, the categories write themselves.
Would it be silly? Yes. Would we all secretly take it way too seriously? Also yes.
Let’s Be Real, Games Already Won
Look, at this point, arguing for legitimacy in a space where Minions made billions is kind of pointless. Games are already bigger than Hollywood in every meaningful metric. People engage with them longer, more deeply, and with more emotional investment than most films can dream of. So do games need Oscars?
No. But it’d be nice to see them get the recognition they deserve – not just from gamers, but from the wider culture that still thinks “interactive media” is just Mario jumping on stuff.
And if you’re feeling inspired to replay your favorite PlayStation narrative masterpiece – or finally try the one all your friends cried about three years ago – check out digital marketplaces like Eneba where you can always grab a PlayStation Network gift card online and queue up something that will destroy you in 4K.
