Al Pacino and Christopher Judge was the high point of The Game Awards

Al Pacino surprised the audience Thursday night as the Game Awards’ surprise presenter. And it culminated in a touching — and notably long — moment that was one of the highlights of the show.

The award was presented to Pacino for the Best Performance after he spoke about his personal relationship to video gaming. The 82-year-old legendary actor joked that people might be surprised to learn he doesn’t play many video games himself, but that he watches his kids play and has a fondness for the immersive style of storytelling they can provide (he also joked about not being able to read the teleprompter. This was quite an engaging preamble.

It’s so cool! Thank you! Hello everyone! It’s really good to see you here. It’s a great experience. One I didn’t expect, but here I am, as usual, doing my surprising thing for myself.

But, uh, anyway, it may come as a shock to you, but it’s hard for me to see the teleprompter [laughs]. In truth, I don’t play a whole lot of video games. I did spend a lot time watching my children play video games. Yeah! And I’ve continued to be thoroughly impressed and entertained by the unique and immersive ways video games tell their stories. The performances are my favourite part. These stories are told by those who help to tell them.

As an actor, I’ve learned whether you’re on a stage or in front of a camera, or inside an audio booth, always, fundamentally, always we’re the same. All of us are trying to tell stories. Our way. Our kind of truth. This is why I feel honored to be there tonight. We are here to celebrate these incredible actors, who have brought life and meaning into the stories.

Christopher Judge received the award in recognition of his contributions to Kratos. God of War Ragnarok. Judge was visibly moved not only by receiving the award (his speech started with “Shit!”), but by getting it from Pacino of all people. He chased down Pacino on stage for a hug, and exclaimed “And I met Al Pacino!” after an emotional speech.

It served as a reminder that, in spite of all the premiering and commercials it featured, award shows can still be about celebrating the people who make these things possible.