The Esports Awards recently revealed the slate of nominees for the upcoming ceremony, billed to take place this coming November. However, one nomination has drawn immense backlash from the community because the streamer in question has absolutely nothing to do with esports or competitive gaming in any respect.
Admittedly, Kai Cenat isn’t alone in this category, as he’s joined by the likes of Caseoh, IShowSpeed, and TheBurntPeanut, but for some reason, The Esports Awards’ social team decided to lead with Cenat in a promotional post. It was a bizarre twist, especially when the slate contains many more esports-centric personalities.
Should The Esports Awards Streamer of the Year Focus on Esports Names?
At first blush, things are a little confusing at The Esports Awards.
There’s a ‘Streamer of the Year’ category and an ‘Esports Content Creator of the Year’ category, which are highly interchangeable. If you’re an esports-focused streamer who wins Streamer of the Year, are you not also the Esports Content Creator of the Year, and vice versa?
If nothing else, it seems like a way to shoehorn some more mainstream talent into the voting pool to get more coverage from these streamers and to get them to attend and promote the show.
Having names like TheBurntPeanut, Kai Cenat, and IShowSpeed on the note means nothing to esports fans, at the end of the day. This category could arguably be dropped in favor of just the Esports Content Creator of the Year award, which includes the likes of:
- Jynxzi
- Gotaga
- Caedrel
- ZooMaa
- FNS
- TacticalRab
- NiceWigg
- MIXWELL
- HungryBox
- TenZ
- TheDonato
It becomes even more convoluted when you realize that some of these folks are named in both categories. It just doesn’t make sense.
Under the post on social media, users were quick to heavily criticize the promotion. One user wrote, ‘If OHNE or Caedrel don’t win it proves this awards show is a rigged s*** stain.’ Another said, ‘If Kai is in here it just shows he’s an industry plant and everything is fake and scripted.’
One pointed out a very important fact that many people might miss: ‘Kai didn’t even stream for half the year lmao.’
Earlier this year, Kai Cenat went on a hiatus and stopped streaming for months, but apparently, he can still be worthy of a nomination for Streamer of the Year.
It was summed up perfectly by this comment:
Wtf Kai do related to esports? Also he streamed like five times this year… Stop using him for views and clicks, disappointing.
The Esports Awards is a prestigious event that has been running for ten years, but decisions like this arguably threaten the future credibility of the showcase.
Do you think a change needs to be made to nominations at The Esports Awards? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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