Elden Ring was the biggest winner at the Game Awards 2022 and its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, could clinch the GOTY spot at this year’s show, too. That’s because the event changed its rules this year to allow DLC to be considered alongside full, standalone games. It seemed obvious that the loophole was added to give FromSoftware’s latest release a shot at recognition, and not undeservedly so. Shadow of the Erdtree has received almost universal acclaim. At its most reductive, it’s just more Elden Ring, but that still puts it head-and-shoulders above much of the competition.
At the same time, there are a bunch of other games that could have taken that nomination slot and added something newer and more interesting to the mix. Plus, it’ll be a bit weird if Shadow of the Erdtree wins and a bunch of people run out to play 2024’s GOTY, only to realize they need to play dozens of hours of a different game and also beat two of its toughest bosses. Maybe a better solution is just to give expansions their own category, especially as they become more and more frequent. Factorio’s Space Age DLC, for instance, just came out and reinvents a game that was already one of the best resource management sims around. —Ethan Gach