Let's Never Settle on the Meaning of 'Game of the Year' Means
The challenge of discovering innovative titles persists as the gaming industry's biggest fundamental issue. Even in worrisome age of corporate consolidation, escalating profit expectations, employee issues, extensive implementation of AI, storefront instability, evolving audience preferences, hope often returns to the elusive quality of "breaking through."
This explains why I'm increasingly focused in "honors" like never before.
Having just a few weeks left in 2025, we're completely in annual gaming awards time, an era where the minority of enthusiasts not enjoying similar multiple F2P shooters each week play through their backlogs, debate game design, and realize that they too won't get every title. There will be exhaustive annual selections, and anticipate "you missed!" responses to these rankings. A gamer consensus-ish selected by media, influencers, and enthusiasts will be issued at The Game Awards. (Creators weigh in next year at the interactive achievements ceremony and GDC Awards.)
This entire recognition is in enjoyment — there are no accurate or inaccurate selections when discussing the best titles of this year — but the significance do feel greater. Any vote cast for a "annual best", whether for the grand main award or "Excellent Puzzle Experience" in forum-voted awards, creates opportunity for a breakthrough moment. A moderate adventure that went unnoticed at debut might unexpectedly attract attention by competing with more recognizable (meaning well-promoted) big boys. After 2024's Neva was included in nominations for a Game Award, I'm aware for a fact that tons of gamers suddenly wanted to read coverage of Neva.
Traditionally, recognition systems has created little room for the breadth of titles published every year. The difficulty to clear to review all appears like a monumental effort; nearly numerous releases launched on Steam in last year, while only 74 games — from recent games and continuing experiences to mobile and VR platform-specific titles — appeared across the ceremony finalists. While popularity, conversation, and platform discoverability drive what people experience every year, it's completely no way for the structure of honors to properly represent the entire year of releases. Still, there exists opportunity for enhancement, assuming we accept its significance.
The Familiar Pattern of Annual Honors
Recently, the Golden Joystick Awards, including interactive entertainment's most established honor shows, published its finalists. Although the vote for top honor proper occurs in January, one can observe the direction: 2025's nominations made room for rightful contenders — major releases that received acclaim for polish and ambition, popular smaller titles celebrated with blockbuster-level hype — but throughout numerous of honor classifications, there's a noticeable focus of recurring games. Throughout the incredible diversity of art and play styles, top artistic recognition creates space for several open-world games set in historical Japan: Ghost of Yōtei and Assassin's Creed Shadows.
"Were I creating a 2026 GOTY in a lab," one writer commented in digital observation continuing to chuckling over, "it would be a Sony open world RPG with strategic battle systems, character interactions, and luck-based roguelite progression that incorporates risk-reward systems and features modest management construction mechanics."
GOTY voting, across official and informal forms, has turned foreseeable. Multiple seasons of candidates and winners has created a template for which kind of polished extended experience can earn a Game of the Year nominee. We see experiences that never reach top honors or including "major" crafts categories like Game Direction or Story, typically due to creative approaches and quirkier mechanics. The majority of titles launched in any given year are likely to be ghettoized into specific classifications.
Case Studies
Hypothetical: Could Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, an experience with a Metacritic score only slightly shy of Death Stranding 2 and Ghosts of Yōtei, reach main selection of industry's top honor selection? Or perhaps a nomination for excellent music (since the soundtrack is exceptional and warrants honor)? Probably not. Excellent Driving Experience? Certainly.
How good does Street Fighter 6 require being to earn GOTY appreciation? Will judges look at character portrayals in Baby Steps, The Alters, or The Drifter and recognize the most exceptional acting of the year absent AAA production values? Does Despelote's short duration have "sufficient" story to merit a (deserved) Excellent Writing honor? (Additionally, should The Game Awards benefit from a Best Documentary classification?)
Similarity in preferences over multiple seasons — among journalists, within communities — demonstrates a process progressively skewed toward a certain extended experience, or smaller titles that landed with enough of attention to qualify. Not great for a sector where finding new experiences is paramount.
