We Should Not Agree on What 'Game of the Year' Signifies
The difficulty of discovering innovative games persists as the gaming sector's greatest fundamental issue. Even in the anxiety-inducing age of company mergers, growing financial demands, workforce challenges, extensive implementation of artificial intelligence, storefront instability, evolving generational tastes, hope somehow revolves to the dark magic of "making an impact."
That's why I'm more invested in "honors" like never before.
With only some weeks remaining in 2025, we're firmly in GOTY period, a period where the small percentage of players not playing similar six F2P competitive titles every week play through their unplayed games, discuss game design, and understand that they too can't play all releases. There will be detailed top game rankings, and there will be "you overlooked!" comments to those lists. A player consensus-ish selected by press, streamers, and followers will be revealed at The Game Awards. (Developers weigh in in 2026 at the DICE Awards and Game Developers Conference honors.)
This entire celebration is in good fun — there are no right or wrong selections when discussing the greatest releases of the year — but the importance seem more substantial. Every selection made for a "GOTY", whether for the grand top honor or "Best Puzzle Game" in forum-voted recognitions, provides chance for a breakthrough moment. A medium-scale adventure that went unnoticed at release might unexpectedly gain popularity by competing with more recognizable (meaning extensively advertised) big boys. When 2024's Neva was included in the running for recognition, I'm aware definitely that many people quickly desired to check analysis of Neva.
Conventionally, award shows has established little room for the breadth of releases launched annually. The hurdle to overcome to review all seems like a monumental effort; approximately 19,000 releases were released on digital platform in 2024, while only 74 releases — from latest titles and ongoing games to mobile and VR exclusives — appeared across industry event selections. When mainstream appeal, discourse, and storefront visibility drive what gamers play annually, it's completely not feasible for the framework of awards to adequately recognize twelve months of titles. However, potential exists for progress, assuming we recognize it matters.
The Predictability of Annual Honors
In early December, prominent gaming honors, among video games' oldest honor shows, revealed its finalists. While the selection for Game of the Year proper happens soon, it's possible to see the trend: 2025's nominations created space for rightful contenders — massive titles that have earned praise for polish and ambition, successful independent games welcomed with AAA-scale attention — but in numerous of honor classifications, exists a noticeable concentration of repeat names. In the enormous variety of visual style and gameplay approaches, the "Best Visual Design" allows inclusion for several exploration-focused titles set in ancient Japan: Ghost of Yōtei and Assassin's Creed Shadows.
"Were I constructing a 2026 GOTY theoretically," one writer noted in digital observation I'm still chuckling over, "it would be a Sony sandbox adventure with turn-based hybrid combat, character interactions, and RNG-heavy replayable systems that incorporates risk-reward systems and has basic building base building."
GOTY voting, throughout organized and unofficial forms, has turned expected. Several cycles of finalists and honorees has created a template for what type of refined 30-plus-hour title can achieve a Game of the Year nominee. There are experiences that never break into main categories or including "important" crafts categories like Direction or Story, typically due to formal ingenuity and unique gameplay. Most games released in annually are destined to be ghettoized into specialized awards.
Case Studies
Hypothetical: Will Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, a game with review aggregate only slightly below Death Stranding 2 and Ghosts of Yōtei, crack highest rankings of The Game Awards' GOTY selection? Or even one for best soundtrack (since the audio stands out and warrants honor)? Unlikely. Excellent Driving Experience? Sure thing.
How good must Street Fighter 6 have to be to achieve GOTY consideration? Might selectors evaluate unique performances in Baby Steps, The Alters, or The Drifter and see the greatest voice work of this year without a studio-franchise sheen? Does Despelote's brief play time have "sufficient" narrative to merit a (earned) Best Narrative honor? (Additionally, does The Game Awards benefit from Top Documentary classification?)
Overlap in preferences throughout multiple seasons — among journalists, among enthusiasts — demonstrates a system progressively skewed toward a certain time-consuming style of game, or indies that achieved enough of attention to meet criteria. Concerning for a field where finding new experiences is everything.