Game of the year nominees are:
- Astro Bot
- Balatro
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Metaphor: Refantazio
Yes, DLCs are included in categories. Kind of ridiculous TBH.
I would imagine Astro Bot and Balatro would have to be the frontrunners given their reception and popularity.
Any one of those 6 could win and I wouldn’t be mad. Great year
Black Myth: Wukong would surprise me, but the other 5 all have a real shot.
Considering it’s a press award, I’d be shocked if one of the lowest reviewed games ever to get nominated won. Feels like compensating for none of these being huge sellers (which might also be part of the reason that DLC is in there). And even then, BM:W only sold one out of four outside of China. Says a lot about the state of Western AAA gaming this year.
The state of AAA gaming is that releases slowed way down, resulting in way less output, which means you’re going to have fewer winners, by the numbers. Not every year can be like last year.
One of these is not like the other…
Kinda rooting for it to win
How can Shadow of ErdTree be a contender for game of the year when it’s a DLC/expansion pack?
It’s bigger than lots of full games and has a proper beginning/middle/end. In the old days, it would have just been a sequel.
I love Elden Ring, but a lot of the asset work on making a game is done for the devs when they go to work on DLC. Not sure if its right to compare with games that had to make a full game from scratch. Haven’t played shadow of the erdtree yet though, maybe it is transformative.
They adjusted the rules this year I believe, they now allow DLCs in GOTY, and also things like new seasons to games. It is dumb, and I personally think it removes what little credibility the game awards had(which wasn’t a lot to me).
Will catch up on all the adverts that are if interest the next day.