We Should Not Agree on What 'Game of the Year' Means

The difficulty of finding new games continues to be the video game sector's biggest existential threat. Despite stressful era of company mergers, growing financial demands, workforce challenges, the widespread use of artificial intelligence, digital marketplace changes, shifting generational tastes, hope somehow revolves to the dark magic of "making an impact."

This explains why I'm more invested in "honors" like never before.

Having just several weeks remaining in the calendar, we're deeply in annual gaming awards season, an era where the minority of enthusiasts not playing similar multiple F2P competitive titles each week complete their library, discuss the craft, and realize that they too won't get everything. There will be exhaustive top game rankings, and we'll get "you missed!" comments to such selections. A gamer broad approval voted on by media, influencers, and followers will be issued at annual gaming ceremony. (Creators weigh in the following year at the interactive achievements ceremony and Game Developers Conference honors.)

All that celebration serves as entertainment — no such thing as right or wrong selections when discussing the greatest titles of 2025 — but the importance do feel more substantial. Any vote made for a "annual best", whether for the major main award or "Top Puzzle Title" in community-selected recognitions, opens a door for wider discovery. A mid-sized adventure that went unnoticed at debut could suddenly gain popularity by competing with more recognizable (meaning well-promoted) major titles. When the previous year's Neva appeared in consideration for a Game Award, I'm aware definitely that numerous gamers immediately wanted to see coverage of Neva.

Traditionally, award shows has made limited space for the variety of releases released each year. The hurdle to overcome to evaluate all appears like an impossible task; nearly eighteen thousand titles came out on Steam in the previous year, while just seventy-four games — including new releases and ongoing games to mobile and VR platform-specific titles — were included across the ceremony nominees. When mainstream appeal, conversation, and digital availability determine what people choose annually, there's simply not feasible for the framework of accolades to do justice the entire year of titles. However, there's room for improvement, if we can accept it matters.

The Expected Nature of Industry Recognition

In early December, prominent gaming honors, including video games' oldest honor shows, published its nominees. While the decision for top honor itself takes place soon, it's possible to observe where it's going: The current selections made room for appropriate nominees — blockbuster games that received praise for polish and scale, successful independent games received with major-studio attention — but across numerous of award types, there's a evident focus of repeat names. Throughout the vast sea of visual style and gameplay approaches, excellent graphics category creates space for several open-world games located in ancient Japan: Ghost of Yōtei and Assassin's Creed Shadows.

"Were I designing a next year's GOTY in a lab," one writer noted in digital observation I'm still amused by, "it should include a Sony exploration role-playing game with mixed gameplay mechanics, character interactions, and RNG-heavy procedural advancement that incorporates chance elements and includes basic building base building."

Industry recognition, across official and unofficial iterations, has grown predictable. Years of finalists and winners has birthed a formula for what type of polished extended experience can score GOTY recognition. We see titles that never reach main categories or even "major" crafts categories like Creative Vision or Story, frequently because to formal ingenuity and unique gameplay. The majority of titles launched in any given year are expected to be ghettoized into genre categories.

Notable Instances

Imagine: Will Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, a game with critical ratings only slightly below Death Stranding 2 and Ghosts of Yōtei, crack highest rankings of The Game Awards' top honor selection? Or maybe a nomination for excellent music (since the soundtrack is exceptional and merits recognition)? Probably not. Best Racing Game? Certainly.

How exceptional does Street Fighter 6 need to be to receive top honor recognition? Can voters evaluate character portrayals in Baby Steps, The Alters, or The Drifter and acknowledge the best acting of 2025 without major publisher polish? Can Despelote's short duration have "sufficient" plot to warrant a (earned) Excellent Writing recognition? (Additionally, should annual event need a Best Documentary category?)

Similarity in favorites throughout recent cycles — among journalists, on the fan level — shows a system more favoring a particular extended experience, or independent games that landed with enough of attention to check the box. Problematic for an industry where finding new experiences is everything.

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