Let's Chat Games 017 - Does "Game of the Year" Matter to You?

How much do you care about what games win various "game of the year" awards?

It’s Game of the Year season! Can you feel it in the air? The days are getting shorter and the Jeff’s who spell their name the other way have decided that games that come out after November 17, 2024 cannot be considered for 2024’s Game of the Year. LOOKING AT YOU INDIANA JONES AND THE GREAT CIRCLE!

Other outlets have their own cutoff dates… and games released back in January are probably already forgotten anyway. Ah, yes, Game of the Year season! There’s a crispness in the air, and confirmation bias is ready to show up on message boards and social media the world over. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

All that said, I love Game of the Year stuff. No joke. Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of The Game Awards as a show itself, but the idea of GOTYs… publications making their lists, checking them twice, visions of indies worth attention dancing in everyone’s heads. I love it. I like reading what the various games media outlets have to say, and I like listening to GOTY podcast episodes. I also REALLY LOVE doing DLC’s Favorites of the Year (based on an incomplete sampling) episode. It’s a super fun one. We limit ourselves to our 5 favorite games, and let me tell you, it’s TUFF. There’s always a game or two or twenty that get left of the list. T U F F.

I’m always interested in what games make people’s lists, but I’m not interested in people bickering about why certain games are or are not on a list. I love the lists, dislike the vitriol they can create. Though perhaps that’s just more a social media issue than anything related to GOTY discussions… sigh. Anyway, yeah, I’m often times more interested in the “why” than the list itself. Ten games on a list tells me a little bit about someone or some organization, but the reasoning behind the picks I find fascinating. That’s the sticky part to me, the part that lets you know how and why someone is thinking a way they are. I love it.

But that’s me. What about you? Does Game of the Year season mean anything to you? When games you haven’t played make someone or some outlet’s list are you more or less likely to seek them out and play them yourself? Are you interested in lists only for the confirmation bias effect? Which, let’s not kid ourselves, is a very real thing. Do you like GOTYs because they can serve as a celebration of the industry? Or you you not really care. You’ll maybe look at a list or two, but you’re really just watching The Game Awards for the trailers/commercials announcing new stuff? Do you think a game winning Game of the Year at various publications gives that game any meaningful sales bump? How much do GOTY wins permeate outside the core fandom?

Looking back at past GOTYs is fun too. It can provide a “now that’s what I call music” snapshot of the times. How often has one genre won over another. What happened to a franchise that was dominating them before? Are there any trends there in what kinds of games outlets like or constantly ignore? What does that say about the “industry”?

Again, yeah, I like this time of year and I’m super curious how you feel about it. Is it something you look forward to, or do you just see it as content outlets make to have something to release over the winter break/holiday period? Let me know! You can just reply to this email or, if you’re reading this on Substack, just leave a comment right there on Substack. I always do my best to reply to everyone.

Random bonus fact. My current GOTY contender list has 15 games on it. EEEEEEK!

Thanks for being here!

-C