The Game Awards Performance That Twitter Couldn't Stop Roasting

The 2021 Game Awards ceremony, which streamed live on the internet on the evening of Dec. 9, was a bit of an uneven affair. Although fans were more than ready to see the titular awards being handed out and the premieres of huge new game trailers, there were a few moments that stuck out like a sore thumb for fans. First, gamers were furious over the announcement of a new "Star Wars" title being made by controversial studio Quantic Dream. After that, fans turned their jeers to a more comedic subject: roasting some of the musical performers.

Sting kicked things off with a somber performance of "What Could Have Been" from Netflix's critically acclaimed "League of Legends" adaptation, "Arcane." While many viewers were surprised to see the musician making an appearance on the Game Awards stage, the performance itself was mostly well-received, as was the commitment of the ever-present Game Awards Orchestra. One band, however, did not fare quite as well in the realm of public opinion.

Imagine Dragons took the stage with Darren Korb and Ashley Barrett from Supergiant Games to perform the songs "Build That Wall" and "Enemy," from the soundtrack to Supergiant's "Bastion" and Netflix's "Arcane," respectively. While the live studio audience at the awards ceremony seemed to be grooving to the band's set, the audience at home did not. Game Awards viewers quickly took to Twitter to roast the group that Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor once claimed had dethroned Nickelback as the "most hated band" (per Consequence).

Gaming YouTube channel Skill Up quipped, "Never encountered anything that couldn't be improved by removing Imagine Dragons from it," and the replies were filled with users who agreed with this take. Some fans even pointed to the Imagine Dragons set as the moment they tuned out of the show altogether. Others took the opportunity to make memes of the performance, with one Twitter user reimagining the song's lyrics to be about how difficult Supergiant's "Hades" can be to beat. 

Of course, video game fans are a divisive lot, and not everyone was displeased by the appearance of Imagine Dragons. Even so, the band's performance on the Game Awards stage led to some of the liveliest conversations of the night.