The Game Awards have faced criticism for their questionable nominations, and the latest one has left everyone scratching their heads. Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam’s inclusion in the Best Esports Coach category for 2023 has raised eyebrows and even led the nominee himself to request removal from the list.
As the year comes to a close, it’s time to evaluate the best and worst of 2023. The Game Awards strive to be the go-to event for gaming and esports, but their credibility takes a hit when they make such glaring mistakes in their nominations.
XTQZZZ, a French Counter-Strike 2 coach, has only been practicing his craft for two months this year and hasn’t won any trophies. His nomination is completely out of place, prompting him to plead with The Game Awards to remove him from the list, stating that he wasn’t even a coach this year.
The gaming community shares the confusion and has come up with a humorous yet plausible theory. They speculate that The Game Awards panel simply googled the winner of the CS:GO Major in 2023 and nominated their coach. XTQZZZ currently coaches Vitality, the BLAST Paris Major Champions, but he wasn’t the one who led the team to victory in Paris. That credit goes to Danny “zonic” Sørensen, now coaching Falcons.
Adding to the confusion, zonic himself is also nominated for Best Esports Coach of 2023, making XTQZZZ’s selection even more perplexing. The community’s theory may be somewhat disrespectful, but it at least offers some explanation. The inclusion of both zonic and XTQZZZ as nominees gives the impression that The Game Awards randomly picked names out of a hat.
The other three nominees, Christine “Potter” Chi from Evil Geniuses, Jordan “Gunba” Graham from Florida Mayhem, and Yoon “Homme” Sung-Young from JD Gaming, were likely chosen using the same method.
Interestingly, CS2 is the only game that has two nominees in the Best Esports Coach category at The Game Awards. While this may seem like an achievement, even XTQZZZ acknowledges that it shouldn’t be the case, especially with the current nominees.
It remains to be seen whether The Game Awards will heed the French coach’s request to be removed from the shortlist. The Game Awards show is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 7.
Source: DOTESPORTS
