Whenever you say any given year hasn’t been great for gaming, people are quick to shout you down. You see, they played a video game they liked that year so it couldn’t possibly have been subpar outside of their lived experience. But the fact is they cannot all be great years for gaming. If they were, then great would be average. And if an average exists, something must exist below it. For gaming, that something is 2024. And Players’ Voice at The Game Awards proves it.
I’ve never been much of a fan of Players’ Voice. While the jury is prone to this too, letting fans vote opens you up to populist choices. The Game Awards wants the prestige of the Oscars (or Emmys, or Grammys, or any other award show that the wider media cares about), but it also wants everybody to like it all the time. It is a manifestation of the host himself in that regard. Fans do not vote on other award shows, and the jury is also far more curated, informed, and selective. If anything, these other awards would benefit from a single audience vote, but The Game Awards doesn’t seem to need it.
What Even Are The Rules For Players’ Voice?
That’s not my only objection, however. I recognise that gamers have a much higher ratio of ‘stans’ in their ranks even than music fans who originated the term. The Game Awards is different to other award shows, and it has the prerogative to therefore behave differently. Some feel the audience should get even more of a say. It’s a difference of opinion, but at least it’s a philosophy. Players’ Voice has no such philosophy.
This first became apparent in 2021, when Halo: Infinite won Players’ Voice. TheGamer was on the regular jury that year, and were told explicitly that Halo: Infinite was ineligible as it launched after the deadline. That’s the consequence of holding the show in December. It means this year the likes of Indiana Jones, Path of Exile 2, Infinity Nikki, Antonblast, Behemoth, and Marvel Rivals are ineligible. But because Players’ Voice is revealed a few weeks after the regular nominees, it was deemed acceptable.
This made it look like the jury (The Sony shills they are! With the anti-Xbox bias they have!) deliberately rejected Halo: Infinite, rather than simply following one of the few rules The Game Awards has. That’s another factor in my dislike of the award – rules are already loose bordering on non-existent for TGA, which is why I find the suggestion Keighley rigs them ridiculous when the obvious answer is he’s just not too bothered who wins as long as audiences show up. But for Players’ Voice, they don’t seem to exist at all.
Too Many Players’ Voice Games Didn’t Come Out This Year
There are 30 games up for Players’ Voice, but several shouldn’t even be eligible in my opinion. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is obviously contentious as an expansion (to a former GOTY winner, no less), but at least that is a self-contained thing. Also up for the award are Final Fantasy 14, Fortnite, Genshin Impact, League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, No Man’s Sky, Valorant, and Warframe. That’s nine spaces taken up by games that didn’t release this year – almost a third of the list. Once you get to the discussion on whether expansions and remakes should be included (which take the total to 12 or 13 depending on whether you count Sonic x Shadow Generations), that’s almost half of the best games in 2024 that didn’t come out in 2024.
Maybe you really do think that the new chapters for Fortnite were the best gaming experience in 2024. To that I say – play more video games. This list means games nominated elsewhere at The Game Awards like Tekken 8, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and Animal Well don’t make the cut, and neither do games awards with a longlist like this should really consider, like 1000xResist or Thank Goodness You’re Here. When we look back on 2024 in a few years time, a lot more people will be talking about Animal Well than will discuss whatever happened in Genshin Impact this year.
I know these games are popular, and I know they put out stuff this year. I also recognise that that criteria seems to be all The Game Awards looks for. But it’s a damning indictment of 2024 as a whole that a third of the list of best games in 2024 aren’t actually best games in 2024. Or maybe it’s not. In 2023, famously an excellent year for gaming, 11 of the games nominated for Players’ Voice weren’t released in 2023, rising to 12 with Phantom Liberty. There Pikmin 4, Forza Motorsport, Slay the Princess, Paranormasight, Ghostrunner 2, and Sea of Stars were left out to make room for Valorant’s seasonal events. Again, I know which ones I think of when I think of 2023.
Maybe it’s less about 2024 being below average and more about Players’ Voice not even doing what it’s supposed to do. If the trophy is there to let players select the best games of the year, why not give it the respect the audience deserves by presenting them with a curated selection of gems? We’ve seen Balatro’s player count spike after its GOTY nomination. Do we really need Valorant, Warframe, and League of Legends to crash out in the first round every year just because they retain a big playerbase? Wouldn’t the Players’ Voice be better if we let them have a voice instead of telling them what they want to hear?
