Ok — so there’s no single, “final” game of the year. There are many GOTY awards, but it’s hard to keep track. Of course, there is the amazing spectacle of The Game Awards. Also, huge household names like IGN, Game Informer, and GameSpot. Your favorite podcasters and YouTubers, like Giant Bomb, Kinda Funny Games or Skill Up. “Official” industry awards like “D.I.C.E.”
Before getting into it, let me just clarify: I didn’t really plan to launch another Game of the Year award in June. But, hey, 2025 is far from over. And this is purely a fan-made passion project. I’ll never get tired of discussing the best games of any year. Let’s celebrate the greats.
22 WELL-KNOWN JUDGES | NO FREE-TO-PLAY | NO DLC | NO EARLY ACCESS | CRITICALLY IMPORTANT | RELEASED JANUARY – DECEMBER 2024
So, what’s the game of the year for 2024? If you ask fans, they’ll probably say one of three things: [insert their favorite game], Astro Bot or Black Myth: Wukong. The latter two were The Game Awards 2024 official GOTY and Players’ Voice, a 100% fan-voted category.
Can you name any of the other GOTY 2024 awards? What about the ones that got Best Direction? Do you know any of the criteria of those awards — or the people that voted for them?
“Back in my day,” there seemed to be a lot more discussion when the awards rolled out. It would go more like, “IGN gave game of the year 2024 to Metaphor: ReFantazio … but Game Informer gave it to Astro Bot!” The debate would rage on. In the modern era, at least anecdotally, The Game Awards is so huge it’s all anyone talks about. Which, let me make clear: those awards are great — catapulting games into the mainstream, making a huge “Oscars Night” type event is always great for the games industry and we, the fans.
But there’s also the issue of criteria. Having spent nearly two decades at IGN, I can’t tell you how challenging it all can be. Let’s start with the fact Indiana Jones and the Great Circle came out in 2024, and it wasn’t eligible for The Game Awards. That’s pretty common, actually. It’s eligible for 2025. But do you really think it’ll be top of mind?
That’s another issue every critic, reviewer, podcaster and gaming fan goes through: it’s tough to reflect on an entire year of experiences. Tougher still when you’re under tons of deadlines before the December holidays hit.
And I’ll tell you another dirty secret: rushing through games is an awful way to review them. Therefore, this general idea of The Final Award is to give people serious time to play and reflect on the great games of the year. It’s not as click-worthy, but who cares if you get a best-effort, high-quality result? Also, if you try to play many of these great games at depth it’s incredibly difficult in terms of total hours per year.
Other criteria that was important to me… There are tons of amazing free games and expansions, but for this one, I had to keep it simple. No early access. No DLC. No free-to-play or that type of stuff. There’s a place for awards in all those. And there is a lot more to say on the matter. Ultimately, it was about simplifying and bringing a bit of an “old school” vibe to The Final Award(s). Awards, by the way, I was not going to be able to get the 22 judges into massive, Discord — or hectic team speakerphone debates on why Astro Bot is so perfectly edited fun, while Prince of Persia is such a masterful platformer with modern action combat.
I can’t shake the feeling we move on too quickly. It’s always the flavor-of-the-week in gaming. Many great games are overlooked because we try to keep up with the latest releases and conversations around them. There are just so many great games get left in the dust in the mainstream conversation. Treated like they’re last night’s half-eaten dinner (example: see Dead Space 2023). There’s no shortage of incredible games to play. It’s no one’s fault. But meanwhile some of these studios and franchises are closing.
So, I had a burning urge inside me to just try something different.
Enter the “Final Game of the Year 2024.” This idea of “The Final Award”. It was tricky to organize, so thank you for anyone who’s read this far and is as passionate as I am. I’m massively thankful to the 20+ reviewers and friends that let me pester them via email, DMs, and text.
So — there’s no absolute GOTY. No perfect list of best games for a year. But still, I wanted to get a unique mix of perspectives. A rare DNA super-creature of reviewers. Knowing the short list of names behind the award helps define it more. And, like I said, at a minimum create something that serves as a reminder for just a handful of the greats of last year.
That’s why The Final Game of the Year 2024 will also sit alongside a Runner-Up. Check back soon for the winners.
As a last note: I would have loved to include and organize a lot of other respected names and voices. This was a longshot in the first place. If you like it, the best thing you can take a moment to do is share it around. Hopefully I can convince a crew to come back for The Final Award for the Game of the Year 2025. Do you have a dream team of judges you’d like to see come together?
Leave a Reply