Who was overlooked in The Game Awards nominations?

This week, The Game Awards creator and host Geoff Keighley, He revealed the games competing for awards at his showcase in December. Dozens of games are named across more than 30 categories. What was missing?

2023 was An incredible year for game releases (Even as the video game industry increases Spirals into more layoffs). It was going to be controversial one way or another, and Keighley has resisted calls to expand the Game of the Year category beyond just six entrants this year. Baldur’s Gate 3 And The Legend of Zelda: Kingdom Tears It was the shoe-in, and Alan Wake 2 came from behind at the end of October to claim another spot. Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros WonderAnd Resident Evil 4 remake The group closed. Yes, in a year that was arguably the best ever when it comes to new games, the remake managed to beat Bethesda’s amazing space saga. Starfieldamong other games.

Game Awards nominations are voted on by 120 media outlets from around the world (Kotaku He has not participated historically and he did not participate this year either.) This is often a reflection of the games people had time to play as much as the games they thought were actually the best, and no one has the time to play every game, let alone finish it. I can think of three games that didn’t occur to me that would probably be on my GOTY list if I had the time to play them.

Then there are the categories themselves, many of which are impossible to parse. There’s a better indie game that involves the product of a billion dollar company (Dave the diver), but also Best Indie Debut and Games for Impact, a tacit acknowledgment that there are a lot of great little games out there that deserve the spotlight but don’t stand a chance against the great games produced by the biggest players in the industry.

The lines between genres barely exist. There are action games, action-adventure games, and RPG games. Final Fantasy 16 It could have been nominated for any of them, but it was placed in the RPG category, despite having more in common with them devil may cry from Dungeons and Dragons. while Octopath Traveler II He was nowhere to be seen. And don’t even get me started Sixth basic armored vehicle, which is another FromSoftware thing they seemed to turn their noses up at because it was about mechanics and faceless NPCs chattering away on walkie-talkies. Someone had to be left out, but Rusty deserved better.

Make your case in the comments below for a game you believe was unfairly left out of the 2023 Game Awards nominations across any of the categories and we’ll include it in our report.