We are now hours away from The Game Awards which will be held on December 7 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The Players’ Voice award is also down to the last round of voting. If the Game of the Year award was based on fan votes, Alan Wake 2, Resident Evil 4, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder will not make the nominee list.
Unlike in the other categories where a jury of over 100 professionals from around the globe has 90% of the overall decision while fans only have 10% of the decision, the Players’ Voice category was created solely for the fans, and the winner is decided strictly on fan votes. The category allows fans to choose their Game of the Year.
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In the first voting round, there were 30 nominees. The first voting round trimmed that list to 10 while the second voting round further trimmed the list to 5. The overall winner from the last 5 will be announced on stage at The Game Awards night. The games that made it to the last voting round are:
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Genshin Impact
Last year, Genshin Impact from miHoYo took home the award. Considering all the great games on the long list of nominees, it was a bit surprising that Genshin Impact made it to the final five ahead of Alan Wake 2. Not saying that Genshin Impact is not a great game. Far from it. However, unless there is some form of regional conspiracy, this year’s Players’ Voice award should go elsewhere.
Although some fans always complain whenever nominees and winners are announced for The Game Awards, especially in the Game of the Year category, the complaint would have been worse if the decision was left solely to viewers to make.
The Game of the Year is the most coveted award
If the Game of the Year award becomes a popularity affair, it would certainly be hijacked, and more deserving games would be sidelined. Not also saying that the games on the list of nominees announced by The Game Awards were the most deserving. The Game of the Year nominees are;
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Resident Evil 4
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The last five remaining games at the Players’ Voice shows how much fan opinion differs from that of the jury tasked with curating the nominee list for the different categories at The Game Awards. For example, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is not a full title but an expansion of the main game.
Nevertheless, some fans found it more deserving of the Game of the Year compared to full releases like Hi-Fi Rush and Alan Wake 2. While I have my reservations about some of the games that made it to the last voting round of the Players’ Voice award, it would be interesting to see the demographics of the voters.
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That way, it will be easier to determine if a game won based on overwhelming votes from around the globe or if they won by simply amassing votes from one region. Perhaps, it may be the right time for The Game Awards to change the voting rules for a game to progress through the voting rounds in the Players’ Voice category.
For example, The Game Award can say that the game that will eventually win in the Players’ Voice category is the one that got the most votes from all the regions of the world rather than just the most votes. That way, the winning game will be the one that is globally accepted as the standout title for the year, what I will call the true Game of the Year winner.
You can still vote for the Players’ Voice award here. Voting will end on December 6, 6 PM PST/9 PM EST.
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