DISCLOSURE: Smash JT is a 1337 Sponsor of The Real Game Awards

Stuttering Craig’s brainchild, "The Real Game Awards" originally made some waves in the gaming community as a refreshing alternative to the bloated and overly corporate mainstream media game award shows. The event, which... in all honestly... was a very fun watch. It aired without a hitch, and was a celebration of gaming culture for gamers, BY gamers - untainted by the typical political posturing and pandering these days that so many of us had come to expect from the "larger" award ceremonies.

Smash JT is proud to be a 1337-level sponsor for the event, and honored to be the presenter for Best Game Journalist of 2024. Throwing my support behind Craig’s mission here to bring the spotlight back to gaming itself was a great feeling, personally.... But as the dust settled, the true fallout was only just beginning.

Initially, the event was widely celebrated for its authenticity and having a grassroots-styled campaign. Gamers across the medium seemed to all appreciate its unfiltered focus on the games and equally important - the people who make them. We also had fun though as well.. Because the fun aspect seems to be the thing being constantly sucked out of the mainstream shows.
In a statement to Smash JT, Stuttering Craig said:
Long story short: I thought it would be fun, they'd get a sudden bump in sales. I made an X thread asking about games, people suggested them, I looked at them and added them. Real simple. The only one I added personally was the AVGN 8Bit one because I've known James forever. Simple as that. It was obviously good intentioned but people can't see past their own ideology unfortunately.
However, it didn’t take long for the woke-left-leaning segment of the gaming community to crawl out of the darkest pits of the internet and turn their attention to the event’s participants, launching yet another one of their campaigns of outrage and cancellation attempts...
Their primary targets? The developers whose games were featured in the show, many of whom... had no idea they were included in the first place.

Apparently PSX Bunlith, who is the developer for Nightmare Kart - the game that one 'Best Racing Game', wasn't impressed in the slightest as they took to X (above).... and Stuttering Craig came back with a banger response (below).

Because of the show's current (relatively tiny) size in the grand scheme, these developers were not informed before hand, and were blindsided by their inclusion. Of course because of this, began receiving backlash from the typical woke hate mob almost immediately.

These are the same folks who've made careers out of patrolling gaming spaces for anything that doesn’t align with their worldview, ready to attack anyone who refuses to bend the proverbial knee. These people aren't gamers. They are activists in our pastime, once again trying to utilize it for furthering their own agenda.
Some of those same folks clearly seem to occupy the office of Hard Drive Magazine, based on their X post:

The developers, undoubtedly fearful of being canceled, quickly jumped to express frustration for being featured, despite having literally nothing to do with the event itself other than being showcased for gamers to potentially take interest in purchasing the games. What's most wild to me is some of the games looks legit awesome, and it's really hard to separate the art from the artist in many cases, and ignorance is bliss.

It’s a textbook example of how the extreme left operates within the gaming industry. Instead of celebrating a show that was created to promote games and developers, they chose to weaponize it as a tactic to directly bully and intimidate anyone who stands in their way. This is their M.O. - silence and ostracize anyone who so much as dares to challenge their narratives or who inadvertently becomes associated with something they deem problematic.
The Selaco Debacle

Take for another example, the lead developer of Selaco (a game that... honestly looked pretty cool that is currently in early access on Steam) who goes by the name Nexxtic on BlueSky, seemed to take issue with the free promotion of their game on Craig's The Real Game Awards. Why? No idea.

While many of the folks in this community try to paint The Real Game Awards as a political platform, the truth is, it's an award show for gamers. Craig was trying his best to involve more games and give promotion to the games he enjoyed. It's unfortunate now, because of the reaction that he was given.

The irony of the situation is hard to ignore. Here we had an event designed to celebrate gaming without the corporate fluff or divisive rhetoric, and yet, the woke brigade still found a way to spin it into a controversy.

But what they didn’t count on is that their tactics don’t hold the same sway they used to. Gamers are waking up. The tide is turning, and people are seeing through these performative outrage campaigns for what they are: an attempt to control and dominate through fear.

Craig’s event, while now shrouded in controversy, stands as a testament to the resilience of the gaming community.

Nexxtic seems to have a big issue with someone promoting their game for free, but doesn't seem to see the hypocrisy of them doing the same thing on their own BlueSky Account for a game they enjoy in Doom Eternal...

I reached out to Craig to get his side of this and he stated:
"I thought it would be fun, they'd get a sudden bump in sales. I made an X thread asking about games, people suggested them, I looked at them and added them. Real simple. The only one I added personally was the AVGN 8Bit one because I've known James forever. Simple as that. It was obviously good intentioned but people can't see past their own ideology unfortunately."
~ Stuttering Craig
Despite all the noise, it was a roaring success, and it showed everyone that there IS a strong demand for gaming content that isn’t afraid to reject the corporate and ideological stranglehold that has taken root in the industry.

As for me, I have ZERO regrets about supporting The Real Game Awards show. I believed in Craig’s vision, and I still do to this day. This event was a big step in the right direction for gamers everywhere who are tired of being lectured and policed by the establishment. If anything, this backlash here only proves the importance behind continuing to fight for a gaming culture that celebrates creativity and gamer-focused fun above anything else.
The question now is whether the developers who bowed to the pressure of the woke mob initially... or, let's be honest... are indoctrinated with ideology pushing themselves... will come to regret their decisions. After all, the gaming community has an extremely long memory, and history has shown us time and time again that those who cave to these tactics always seem to find themselves on the losing side of the proverbial public opinion 'stick'. For now though, one thing's certain: "The Real Game Awards" struck a nerve, and that’s exactly why it mattered.
~Smash
Eh, I've never been one for "award shows," gaming or otherwise. I play what I play apart from public opinion/approval and that will never change. So while I applaud the sentiment behind what you and Craig are trying to do here, I can't really bring myself to care or offer much more than a half-hearted "GG."
...I guess I do appreciate seeing the reactions of those nominated/not directly involved—helps bring to light the woke/demonic weirdos I should ardently avoid and purposely NOT support. None of those lunatics are getting MY money if I can help it.
Their threatened this why there complaining. They know that nobody listens to the access media. I will continue to support looking forward to next year
you should just report the trans comment as abusive. Has all the makings of a permanent X ban due to abusive language.
The fact that a non-woke game made by a woke lunatic won an award at The Real Game Awards gives me massive amounts of respect for Craig and i am now a $5 supporter. This is exactly what we should be doing. Focusing on whats good while ignoring politics, gender, race and the inflammatory responses of woke lunatics. They don't have to like it, they just have accept it, we're moving on from the fight without them. Let their rage baiting die with their movement.
A pristine example of the “tolerant left” at its finest. These people and their ‘cancel culture’ attitude need to grow the fuck up.