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The challenge of uncovering new games continues to be the video game sector's greatest existential threat. Despite the anxiety-inducing era of corporate consolidation, escalating revenue requirements, labor perils, extensive implementation of artificial intelligence, platform turmoil, evolving generational tastes, progress somehow comes back to the mysterious power of "breaking through."

Which is why I'm increasingly focused in "honors" more than before.

Having just a few weeks left in the year, we're deeply in annual gaming awards time, an era where the small percentage of players not enjoying the same multiple F2P shooters weekly play through their unplayed games, debate game design, and realize that they too won't experience all releases. We'll see exhaustive best-of lists, and anticipate "you overlooked!" responses to those lists. An audience general agreement voted on by press, streamers, and enthusiasts will be revealed at annual gaming ceremony. (Industry artisans participate next year at the interactive achievements ceremony and GDC Awards.)

All that sanctification serves as enjoyment — there are no correct or incorrect choices when discussing the best titles of this year — but the stakes appear greater. Every selection selected for a "annual best", either for the grand top honor or "Best Puzzle Game" in community-selected awards, creates opportunity for a breakthrough moment. A medium-scale adventure that received little attention at launch could suddenly gain popularity by being associated with higher-profile (meaning extensively advertised) blockbuster games. When 2024's Neva popped up in consideration for recognition, I know for a fact that tons of players quickly desired to see coverage of Neva.

Conventionally, recognition systems has created limited space for the variety of games launched each year. The hurdle to address to evaluate all appears like a monumental effort; nearly numerous releases launched on Steam in 2024, while merely a limited number titles — including new releases and continuing experiences to smartphone and VR exclusives — appeared across the ceremony selections. While mainstream appeal, discussion, and storefront visibility drive what players experience every year, there's simply no way for the structure of awards to properly represent a year's worth of games. Still, there's room for improvement, assuming we accept it matters.

The Familiar Pattern of Game Awards

Earlier this month, prominent gaming honors, one of gaming's most established honor shows, published its contenders. While the selection for Game of the Year main category happens in January, you can already notice the trend: The current selections made room for deserving candidates — major releases that received recognition for polish and ambition, hit indies received with AAA-scale attention — but in a wide range of award types, we see a obvious concentration of recurring games. In the vast sea of art and gameplay approaches, excellent graphics category creates space for multiple exploration-focused titles set in historical Japan: Ghost of Yōtei and Assassin's Creed Shadows.

"Were I designing a next year's Game of the Year in a lab," an observer noted in online commentary that I am enjoying, "it must feature a PlayStation exploration role-playing game with mixed gameplay mechanics, companion relationships, and luck-based roguelite progression that incorporates risk-reward systems and includes modest management base building."

GOTY voting, throughout official and informal iterations, has become predictable. Several cycles of nominees and victors has established a formula for which kind of polished lengthy title can achieve award consideration. Exist games that never reach main categories or even "significant" crafts categories like Direction or Story, typically due to formal ingenuity and unusual systems. Many releases launched in any given year are destined to be ghettoized into specialized awards.

Case Studies

Imagine: Would Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, an experience with review aggregate marginally below Death Stranding 2 and Ghosts of Yōtei, crack the top 10 of The Game Awards' top honor selection? Or maybe a nomination for superior audio (as the audio stands out and deserves it)? Doubtful. Excellent Driving Experience? Absolutely.

How good does Street Fighter 6 need to be to receive GOTY appreciation? Can voters consider distinct acting in Baby Steps, The Alters, or The Drifter and recognize the best performances of 2025 lacking a studio-franchise sheen? Can Despelote's short duration have "adequate" story to deserve a (earned) Top Story honor? (Also, does The Game Awards need Excellent Non-Fiction category?)

Similarity in choices over the years — among journalists, among enthusiasts — demonstrates a system more biased toward a certain lengthy game type, or indies that landed with enough of a splash to check the box. Concerning for an industry where exploration is everything.

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