Key Takeaways
- The Game Awards have clarified that DLCs, Expansion Packs and Season Passes, along with Remakes and Remasters are eligible for its annual Game of the Year award.
- This means that Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion is eligible to win the award, despite the main game having already won honors in 2022.
- As a result, gamers have a largely mixed opinion of the decision, with some offering criticism and others defending it.
If there’s one thing gamers love as much or even more than playing the latest releases, it’s debating which game should earn Game of the Year honors. That said, those debates got a bit more complicated when, on Friday, The Game Awards confirmed that Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion is eligible for GOTY.
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Indeed, FromSoftware’s 2024 release could, in theory, win GOTY, after the main game had already won the award in 2022. An FAQ on The Game Awards’ website affirms that expansion packs, new seasons, DLCs, remakes and remasters are all eligible in an effort to recognize the “best creative and technical work each year, irrespective of the format of that content’s release.”
There Is No Consensus Among Gamers
As part of a larger Reddit thread, there is a mixed response among gamers regarding these new changes. 2024 is already shaping up to be a tight GOTY race, and Elden Ring has already received its “flowers” back in 2022.
“Honestly pretty lame. ER dlc was amazing, but it already got its time on the spotlight. They should be focusing on celebrating games the actually came out this year, giving the spotlight to them,” one user wrote on Reddit.
That said, Shadow of the Erdtree was a truly phenomenal expansion. In other words, it’s not like Season 01 of a Call of Duty title is being considered. “Personally, if a DLC was the best thing to release this year, it’s still the best game, I guess?” one user countered.
“If a remaster wins, that just means other companies lost to a game that didn’t even come out this year. That’s more a statement about the losers than the winner,” another user added in defense of the change.
There is also a third lane that exists, which is a whole new category altogether. “Maybe make a separate category for DLCs, like DLC of the Year,” a user suggested. That way, the excellent expansions can get their moment in the sun without also impacting a game that was released that year. There’s a lot to unpack, so it’s worth waiting for the full nominations before bringing out the pitchforks.
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