Should The Game Awards Expand GOTY to 10 Nominees? What It Would Mean for Blockbusters and Indies
Should The Game Awards expand its Game of the Year category to 10 nominees? The idea borrows from the Oscars, but gaming has a different landscape — big hits often dominate, and smaller games can be overlooked. Below, I lay out the facts and the trade-offs so you can see what’s at stake.
- Starfield and the 2023 omission
- Indie games often left out
- Pros and cons of expanding to 10
- Bottom line
Oscars example
In 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expanded the Best Picture field from five to 10 nominees. The move aimed to broaden the kinds of films that got nominated, and to include more popular titles alongside arthouse fare.
Since that change, popular films such as Avatar, Black Panther, Top Gun: Maverick, Barbie, and Wicked have received Best Picture nominations. Moreover, the Academy has still nominated arthouse and international titles like Parasite and Anora, showing a mix of mainstream and niche picks.
How The Game Awards currently works
The Game Awards currently nominates six titles for Game of the Year. Previously, most categories had five nominees; an additional GOTY slot was added in 2018.
Historically, the awards tend to favor large productions with big audiences. Previous GOTY winners include The Witcher 3, God of War, and Elden Ring. By contrast, smaller winners are rare: Astro Bot is the only GOTY winner to have sold fewer than 10 million copies.
Starfield and the 2023 omission
In 2023, Bethesda Game Studios’ Starfield was not among the GOTY nominees, and that omission prompted complaints from fans. The 2023 GOTY field included titles such as Baldur’s Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Alan Wake 2.
Indie games often left out
The Game Awards has never nominated more than one game in both its Independent Game and GOTY categories in the same year. As a result, many well-regarded indie titles have missed GOTY nominations.
Notable examples that were not nominated for GOTY include Hollow Knight, Stardew Valley, Undertale, Firewatch, and Outer Wilds. These omissions are often pointed to when people argue that the awards should make room for smaller projects.
Pros and cons of expanding to 10
On the pro side, expanding GOTY to 10 nominees could increase visibility for smaller games and developers. Consequently, it might help the awards appear more inclusive of different kinds of work, and it could spotlight titles that don’t have massive sales but have strong critical support.
On the con side, there are valid concerns. For instance, expanding the list might devalue what it means to be nominated, if the extra slots simply let in mediocre or less-deserving games. Also, only The Game Awards organizers know which titles would occupy positions seven through ten; therefore, an expanded field might not actually be more diverse.
Bottom line
The decision to expand Game of the Year to 10 nominees is ultimately up to Geoff Keighley and The Game Awards board. Expanding could highlight more small games, but it could also dilute the nomination. For now, the awards use six GOTY slots, and any change would come from the organisers’ judgement.
