The Game of the Year Awards 2024 was an epic showcase highlighting the top games from the year and new games to look forward to in 2025. By celebrating games across genres, the creators behind them, and the voices of characters we love, the gaming community can come together and share their love of gaming. Though not every game can be nominated or win, many big and small games are nominated to win different categories, or become the Game of the Year! This year there was some strong controversy over two of the six nominees and the winner, Astro Bot, so let’s discuss the awards, the controversy, and the winners!

The six games nominated for 2024 were Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, and Balatro. While the first four are full-fledged games that received high praise from audiences, the other two are where the controversy started. The first was Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC because it is not technically a game, but downloadable content for Elden Ring which caused people to question the legitimacy of the awards because DLCs should have their own category and not qualify for Game of the Year. The second was Balatro, which is a full game but it is a very simple poker-style game that does not compare to the rest of the nominees. There were other categories these could fall under, but overall Game of the Year is not something either of these should have qualified for. There was great relief when they didn’t win, but people felt that other games were denied an opportunity to win because of these two nominees. Based on community feedback we can only hope that next year that all six games are legitimate nominations and deserving of the award.

Out of the six, Astro Bot won, which was exciting for the small team at Asobi and lovers of the adorable game. However, there was a lot of feedback that it should not have won over Black Myth: Wukong and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for a variety of reasons, some of which I consider disrespectful to the studios who put so much effort into making these games. While it may have not been the same type of game as the rest, it is still a full-fledged game that received critical acclaim and extremely high ratings upon release. It is also a game that is accessible for all ages or gamers, not just those who have higher skill sets or experience. Even if it wasn’t your first choice, let’s be respectful to the team who created the game and those who loved playing it.

The Game of the Year awards started ten years ago in 2014, opening the opportunity for games of all kinds to share their incredible content and grow with a community. It has turned into a huge event now that gamers and game creators get excited about and it continues to expand its categories to adapt to modern times (Best eSports Gamer / Best Game Adaption). It’s also a great chance for people to start discussions about the games they love and share experiences, but let’s try to keep it respectful and celebrate along with the winners. Check out this year’s nominees and tune in for next year’s event!

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