It’s probably not going to matter anyway. I really doubt Death Stranding is going to win — it’s much too controversial and arthouse.
That said, I do understand the concerns, especially with how gaming journalism is in the 2010s. This is not out of character.
If I had to put money on it, I’d say Keighley just wanted to accept a kind honor, and Kojima just wanted to thank him for the kindness of sticking up for him when he literally lost everything, and was being pretty mistreated, not even allowed to accept a reward for the game he directed.
It’s a fun cameo that I enjoyed, and I don’t think seeing your visage in a game is going to make you alter the course of a major awards ceremony where you don’t even get a vote, but it does highlight how important objectivity, and the appearance of objectivity, is.
I’m glad the subject is being raised, in any case. We need to be asking hard questions about journalism, gaming or otherwise.