Evo Awards Is Facing Serious Criticism

One of the special things that was announced at the recent Evo stream, was the introduction of Evo Awards, powered by Qiddiya and featuring a category presented by Chipotle. Evo's own website describes it as follows, "the inaugural Evo Awards will be a historic celebration, recognizing the achievements, hard work, and passion propelling our community forward."

However, if you look through the actual categories, it feels like it was hastily thrown together, with many of the nominees going to whoever first comes to mind. That might sound harsh, but it's hard to feel that these awards are meant to celebrate the community when it represents less than 1% of it.

There has been a good bit of feedback about it, both on YouTube and social platforms, like X and BlueSky, and Austintatious's is a great general summary of what people tend to point out.

It's downright bizarre that an event that is explicitly meant to celebrate the community has a "best marketing campaign" category. Two other categories also focus on custom hardware and best hardware, but instead of featuring things made by creative and skilled people in the FGC, they show off products. Including ones from companies like Qanba, Hit Box Arcade, and Victrix, who were all partnered with Evo in the past.

Not to mention, what does it say about Evo's celebration of the rather diverse community, when it is sponsored by Qiddiya, and thereby plays a part in Saudi Arabia's sportswashing efforts.

Even if you put aside any potential conflict of interest or ethical concerns, what does it say about the FGC when so many of the community nominations include a repeating cast of the same talents? Justin Wong, Sajam, Yipes, and Tasty Steve are all great, but they would likely agree and name a dozen other creators and commentators that deserve a highlight if one was to celebrate the community.

It's disappointing to see this from Evo, which typically serves as one FGC events that really brings everyone together. It lands more credibility to those who felt like Evo is growing increasingly more corporate as the years go by, something that can't be undone by having a Meme of the Year award, presented by Chipotle.