Last night the video game BAFTA’s took place and many of the top games from the past year walked away with awards. Once again the AMD Esports Audience Award returned, but there was a surprise winner, that a lot of people are not happy about.
The award was voted on by fans, with Clash Royale, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, League of Legends, Overwatch and Street Fighter V all included. When all the votes were counted it was Clash Royale that came out on top.
While Clash Royale does have a decent eSports scene it is of course nowhere near the size of any of the other games on the list. Sure it may rival some of those games in terms of player base, but when talking about eSports it struggles to match them in most areas.
This of course raises the question of if an award like this should be fan voted. Opening it up to fans makes the award less about merit and more about who can mobilize the community the best, which pretty much counts out any Valve title.