Despite being a smash-hit game for the PlayStation 3, the 2011 video game Batman: Arkham City became something of a meme due to its box art, specifically, on the Game of the Year edition. Almost at the exclusion of the caped crusader himself, developer Rocksteady plastered the case with positive reviews that the title had received, making it look more like the wall of a phone booth rather than a video game.

Bafta Game Awards

In reality, there were only four short comments on Arkham City’s box but Rocksteady deliberately placed Batman in the rear of the image, emphasizing the rest in bright red. The message was clear – a ten out of ten scores from GameInformer was more important to the audience than the venerable Dark Knight. Of course, that presumption was entirely false and Arkham City’s meme status was written in stone.

On the surface, it’s hard to find the negatives in positive reviews and awards but, when presented incorrectly, they tend to overpower the product itself. Rocksteady’s box art graffiti was arguably more for the benefit of the company, its investors, and executives than for any one customer. Award quality means a lot more to consumers than four statements that all say roughly the same thing.

Due to the value attached to some awards, nominations can be just as impressive as the real thing. In the UK, for example, the Bafta Game Awards, what some might consider the British Oscars, are worthy of mention regardless of the overall outcome. Fall Guys, a game about “jellybeans falling over”, to quote level designer Joe Walsh, received five Bafta nominations in 2021, for instance.

Self-Promotion

Stepping slightly outside the gaming industry into another entertainment niche, the bingo and casino industry benefits from its own set of awards, too. As with the likes of Fall Guys and Arkham City, which would also win a Bafta in 2011, albeit too late to replace Batman on the box, individual slots, blackjack, poker, and roulette titles are eligible for wins and nominations.

The popular stuffed toy-based game Fluffy Favourites was a nominee at the PCA Awards in 2021. The game has become something of a flagship product of developer Eyecon, featuring prominently on its homepage, though it’s only playable on the website of licensees like Buzz Bingo. Unusually, for such a simple game, it has three bonus features, namely, Toybox Pick, Free Spins, and a Wild Symbol.

The website business.com describes the self-promotion that’s inherent to awards as an art form that should reflect the overall direction of a company and keep the customer in mind. A business that’s striving to be a bit of a consumer champion should lead with accolades relevant to that fact. There’s no point in creating an association in the public’s collective mind with your travel company and the cleanest staff toilets in the United States.

Overall, while awards are nice, not all of them have value to any given audience. Sometimes, it’s okay to be choosy with the recognition you’ve received.