The Game Awards: Highguard’s Tencent Reveal Sparked Backlash
Alright. Let’s talk about the mess.
For years, Geoff Keighley has positioned The Game Awards as gaming’s big night. The Oscars, but with fewer tuxedos and more world premieres. Sometimes it works. Sometimes we get genuinely cool announcements. And sometimes we get whatever just happened with Highguard.
If you’ve been anywhere near Twitter, Reddit, or YouTube lately, you already know the vibe…it’s not good.
Let’s break this down before we put on the tinfoil hat.
The Highguard Reveal That Didn’t Land
Highguard was positioned as the final reveal of the show. That slot is sacred territory. Historically, it’s where something massive lives. The kind of reveal that makes chat explode and YouTube clips hit a million views overnight.
Instead, viewers got what seemed like a half-assed hero shooter.
Not an unplayable disaster. Not a scam. Just a fairly bleh-looking, free-to-play hero shooter in a market already drowning in them. The reaction was immediate and brutal. The livestream chat turned sour. Social feeds filled up with confusion. Some viewers felt like they had just waited three hours for a mid-tier trailer.
To make matters worse, reports later surfaced that Highguard was originally meant to be shadow-dropped quietly. No massive stage. No final slot. Just a “hey, it’s out” moment.
That changed when it became the show closer.
That shift is important, because it reframes the backlash. It wasn’t just about the game. It was about expectations.
Geoff’s Hype and the Apology Meme That Backfired
Geoff didn’t exactly play it low-key either. He hyped the reveal. He seemed confident it would land. At one point he joked that he would be accepting apologies after people saw it.
The apologies did not come.
Image: Highguard Reveal | The Game Awards
Instead, people started asking questions. Not about whether he liked the game. That’s subjective. The question was whether something else was going on behind the scenes.
That’s where things get spicy.
And Enter Tencent
Everyone was kinda scratching their heads about the hype, but then reports began circulating that Highguard was backed by Tencent.
Now, Tencent backing a game is not shocking. They back a lot of games. They have their hands in more studios than most people realize. That part alone is not scandalous.
The part that raised eyebrows is that a senior Tencent executive reportedly sits on the advisory board for The Game Awards.
To be very clear, an advisory board seat does not mean someone controls the show. It does not mean bribery. It does not mean the finale slot was bought. There is no definitive evidence suggesting that Geoff was paid personally or had a financial stake in Highguard. In fact, he publicly denied having any financial interest.
That matters. It should at least be acknowledged…now whether you believe it or not…that’s a different story.
But optics matter too. And the optics here are just messy.
When a company backing a game has representation tied to the advisory structure of the very event that gives that game the most prestigious promotional slot of the night, people are going to talk. That conversation is inevitable.
Even if everything was above board, transparency is the difference between calm discourse and internet chaos. And right now, the internet is in chaos.
Did Highguard Pay for the Slot at The Game Awards?
Image: Highguard Gameplay Trailer | The Game Awards
The Bigger Pattern Fans Are Noticing at The Game Awards
The Identity Crisis of The Game Awards
Want More?
Check These Out Next!
About Report AFK
A place for gamers, by gamers, untarnished by corporate gaming media and their nonstop attempts to elevate bad games while denouncing any developers brave enough to stand up to them.
Site Links
Copyright 2026 ReportAFK.com
Art
February 19, 2026
Geoff Keighley is an asshat.