We Should Not Settle on What 'Game of the Year' Signifies
The challenge of finding fresh titles remains the video game industry's biggest ongoing concern. Despite stressful age of business acquisitions, growing financial demands, workforce challenges, extensive implementation of artificial intelligence, digital marketplace changes, evolving player interests, progress in many ways comes back to the dark magic of "making an impact."
Which is why my interest has grown in "honors" more than before.
Having just some weeks remaining in the calendar, we're firmly in GOTY time, an era where the minority of players who aren't experiencing identical several no-cost shooters weekly tackle their unplayed games, discuss development quality, and understand that they too won't experience every title. We'll see detailed top game rankings, and anticipate "you missed!" responses to such selections. A gamer general agreement voted on by media, influencers, and enthusiasts will be issued at annual gaming ceremony. (Developers weigh in next year at the interactive achievements ceremony and GDC Awards.)
This entire sanctification is in entertainment — there are no right or wrong selections when discussing the best games of this year — but the importance do feel greater. Each choice selected for a "game of the year", be it for the grand GOTY prize or "Top Puzzle Title" in forum-voted recognitions, provides chance for a breakthrough moment. A moderate experience that flew under the radar at launch could suddenly find new life by rubbing shoulders with better known (specifically extensively advertised) major titles. After 2024's Neva appeared in consideration for an honor, I know without doubt that many people suddenly wanted to check analysis of Neva.
Conventionally, award shows has created little room for the breadth of games published every year. The challenge to overcome to consider all seems like an impossible task; about 19,000 releases came out on digital platform in 2024, while just a limited number releases — from recent games and ongoing games to mobile and virtual reality exclusives — were represented across The Game Awards selections. While commercial success, conversation, and platform discoverability influence what players play annually, it's completely impossible for the framework of honors to adequately recognize the entire year of releases. However, there's room for improvement, assuming we acknowledge its significance.
The Predictability of Game Awards
Recently, the Golden Joystick Awards, among interactive entertainment's longest-running honor shows, revealed its contenders. Even though the vote for top honor main category occurs in January, you can already notice the direction: 2025's nominations allowed opportunity for rightful contenders — blockbuster games that garnered acclaim for polish and scope, popular smaller titles celebrated with major-studio hype — but across a wide range of honor classifications, exists a evident concentration of familiar titles. Throughout the incredible diversity of art and mechanical design, the "Best Visual Design" creates space for several sandbox experiences taking place in ancient Japan: Ghost of Yōtei and Assassin's Creed Shadows.
"If I was designing a 2026 GOTY in a lab," one writer commented in a social media post continuing to enjoying, "it would be a Sony open world RPG with turn-based hybrid combat, party dynamics, and luck-based replayable systems that leans into chance elements and has light city sim base building."
Industry recognition, across official and informal iterations, has turned expected. Years of finalists and victors has established a pattern for the sort of polished 30-plus-hour game can achieve GOTY recognition. We see experiences that never reach GOTY or including "important" creative honors like Creative Vision or Narrative, typically due to innovative design and unique gameplay. Many releases released in annually are destined to be limited into specific classifications.
Specific Examples
Consider: Could Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, an experience with a Metacritic score only slightly less than Death Stranding 2 and Ghosts of Yōtei, crack highest rankings of The Game Awards' Game of the Year selection? Or perhaps consideration for best soundtrack (because the soundtrack stands out and merits recognition)? Probably not. Excellent Driving Experience? Certainly.
How good must Street Fighter 6 have to be to receive Game of the Year appreciation? Will judges evaluate unique performances in Baby Steps, The Alters, or The Drifter and recognize the best acting of 2025 absent AAA production values? Can Despelote's short length have "sufficient" story to warrant a (earned) Top Story honor? (Furthermore, does The Game Awards need Top Documentary award?)
Repetition in choices across the years — within press, on the fan level — demonstrates a process increasingly biased toward a specific extended game type, or smaller titles that generated sufficient attention to qualify. Concerning for a sector where exploration is everything.
