‘What is he doing here?’: Al Pacino at TGAs leaves everyone in the gaming world scratching their heads

It’s hard to find a place Hollywood legend Al Pacino doesn’t fit in.

The iconic movie star has been around the block a time or two. He’s stepped into the shoes of all sorts of larger-than-life characters, from a drug kingpin in Scarfare to the devil in The Devil’s Advocate, and more.

Gaming isn’t his field of expertise, though—and people watching his unexpected appearance at The Game Awards felt like he seemed out of place, probably for the first time in his career.

Pacino addressed the elephant in the room immediately, admitting he isn’t much of a gamer himself but has come to appreciate them by watching his grandchildren play them over the years. He was also presenting the award for Best Performance in a Video Game, which to be fair, does tie into his acting experience.

But despite that, and despite the fact he received a standing ovation before and after his speech, it didn’t stop people from scratching their heads about his appearance on social media.

One viewer posted a meme saying: “What the hell is a polar bear doing in Arlington, Texas?”

It’s blown up, amassing more than 10,000 likes in less than an hour.

Another fan took a more serious approach, saying:  “Why? What a waste of time and someone’s money. Al is a great guy but has NOTHING TO DO WITH GAMES.” They weren’t alone.

Some even pointed out the award-winning actor looked as dazed and confused as anyone else.

People within the industry seemed just as surprised as anyone else.

Lukas Eggen of the Las Vegas Review Journal and an official Future Class Member at The Game Awards, said: “I did not have Al Pacino as the first person on stage on my The Game Awards bingo card.”

Paul Tassi, a video games writer for Forbes, said: “Okay, really did not see Al Pacino coming. Is Al Pacino in a video game? Not sure about the “a ‘real’ actor presents the acting award.”

Either way, Pacino’s presence generated quite a buzz, which was probably the point of it all.

Plus, the more iconic celebrities at game events, the merrier—as long as they’re not taking the spotlight away from those in the industry, and in this case, Pacino didn’t, really.