The game awards, an annual spectacle
Graphic including some of the games nominated for The Game Awards (The Puma Prensa / Logan Budlong)
By Logan Budlong, Staff Writer
With the winter season here, many are excited for the festivities to begin, with winter break around the corner and holidays galore. Among this season of celebration however, some find this to be a time of competition and opinions.
The Game Awards are an annual event put on by Geoff Keighley, a former game journalist, to acknowledge new games from all different manners of studios. This event gives the best of them the chance to win the title of Game of the Year as well as the recognition that comes with it. Each year brings in new blood, such as last year's Balatro, a popular card game, or this year's Clair Obscure Expedition 33, a turn-based RPG that reinvented this genre's gameplay.
While there are numerous impressive new games throughout all the categories, the game of the year category stands out with four independently published titles. One of which received 12 different nominations, making it both the most nominated game ever to be selected for the game of the year.
Each year, six nominees are chosen for the game of the year category, with this year's choices being Donkey Kong Bananza, Kingdom Come Deliverance II, Hades II, Hollow Knight Silksong, Clair Obscure Expedition 33, and Death Stranding 2 On the Beach.
The most popular of these six are the four indie games (Kingdom Come Deliverance II, Hades II, Hollow Knight Silksong, Clair Obscure Expedition 33), although two of them are even more outspoken than the rest. Silksong, released early in September with only a week's notice, became a hit overnight. It crashed most digital retailers that sold the game and quickly climbed the steam charts. It follows Hornet, the princess of Hallownest (the location of the previous game) as she journeys through the land of Pharloom, fighting enemies and finding friends with the goal of finding the truth of her attempted capture.
Clair Obscure, on the other hand, is generally more popular having released in late April and quickly becoming a hit with its rich worldbuilding, storytelling, and music. The player journeys through the land of Lumier, seeking to put an end to the painter who is slowly erasing all living creatures of a certain age. With an emotional campaign and interactive turn based combat that makes dodging key to your survival, it has remained a gaming phenomenon.
Both of these games come from small studios who remained dedicated to the dream of a game that they had when they were composing the music, writing the stories, and animating the cutscenes.
If these games don't interest you, though, numerous other categories exist such as Best Mobile Game, Best Family Game, and even best streamer. These numerous categories were created to cater to all manner of gamers. Each category is jam packed with options across all genres such as Umamusume: Pretty Derby, a mobile gacha and racing game, to Helldivers II, a fast paced alien shooter.
Voting takes place through the majority of November and through the first two weeks of December, and any player or fan can vote on the website of the Game Awards, with the combined votes of all public fans counting for 10 percent of the final vote. The remaining 90 percent is made up of over 100 different media outlets who all place their votes for who deserves the award.
This event takes place annually and is streamed live from Los Angeles so that anyone can tune in and celebrate the advances in gaming. If you find that a game you have come to appreciate was nominated, always feel free to visit the game awards website and place your vote to help it win game of the year.