Is it really that difficult to try to put yourself out of your own head and into his, just for a moment?
I don't think that's the issue. People get it. You're not famous, then the next second you are.
But why do most Oscar acceptance speeches, and professional PR sound the same? Because at the end of the day, you're an incredibly lucky person just for being included in the nomination process, let alone winning. If you start talking about your anxiety in not winning awards again, comparing it to alcoholism, and describing in extreme detail how you can't even find happiness or rest without winning again and again, then it's very easy for people to find that to be a bit of a silly problem.
PR basically tells everyone to be humble, to thank everyone who helped you get to that point, and it turns out it's mostly good advice.
Is this an interesting comic strip that shows what this guy is thinking? Kind of. It's definitely not the standard PR response from a publisher or game dev. But I don't know if it's really an improvement, and I can totally see why people are criticizing it. Ironically, if you put yourself in the position of the critics, it's not hard to see their motivation. They think it's basically the epitome of "first world problems." This guy is basically saying he's addicted to winning awards. That is about as ridiculous as it gets; just in my humble opinion.
I really don't think the guy meant it to come off that way, but honestly, it kinda does ... I mean, he even says getting an award for your art will "ultimately kill you." Come on man. Maybe he should work on the next game, and then every journalist in love with his stuff can say
"from the makers of Stanley Parable" and then he'll win another one. Is that killing someone? Ridiculous. Maybe some therapy would actually help the guy. I don't attach a huge stigma to therapy, and the guy is not looking at this right at all. He literally thinks the biggest opportunity he's gotten is going to kill him. At that point, maybe you should talk to someone.
And what message does this send to gaming journalists, that are already very smitten with indie games. Keep giving them awards or they'll be sad? But, if you give them any awards, they'll be sad too? What? The only constant here is that this guy is sad, regardless if he wins or loses.