Summary
- 2024’s Game of the Year race has been surprisingly close, but there’s still been a clear frontrunner.
- That horse to bet on was none other than Astro Bot, who ended up taking the Game of the Year crown.
- Here’s hoping that Astro’s win serves as a reminder of the power of platformers.
Astro Bot has, perhaps unsurprisingly, been crowned Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024, beating out Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Balatro, and a few of the year’s other heavy-hitters.
Ignoring 2021’s surprisingly sparse lineup (I still think it should have been Psychonauts 2), The Game Awards’ Game of the Year lineup is always incredibly stacked. 2024 is no different, with six worthy (and somewhat surprising) nominees in the form of Astro Bot, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Balatro, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, and Black Myth: Wukong.
Related
Why Astro Bot Should Win Game Of The Year
Astro Bot isn’t the kind of game that wins Game of the Year, but in 2024, there’s no better choice.
Alhough there are a few underdog picks in there that made it hard to predict who would win the crown this year, there’s always one nominee who stands out as the obvious pick among the rest. 2023 had Baldur’s Gate 3, 2022 had Elden Ring, and 2024’s horse to bet on has been none other than Astro Bot. Surprise surprise, the little bot who could is who ended up winning.
Astro Bot Is The Game Awards 2024’s Game Of The Year
After hours of announcements, celebrity appearances, (hastily given) awards, and the beloved musical performance of tracks from the TGA nominees, the stage was set for 2024’s winner to be revealed. And, shocker, it was revealed to be Astro Bot, with Team Asobi taking the stage to collect their well-earned award.
While it wasn’t quite as obvious who would win this year as it was in 2023 and 2022, Astro Bot taking the gold (or Platinum, I guess) shouldn’t really come as a shock to anyone. Astro Bot was absolutely lauded by critics and players alike when it launched in September, and has gone on to become the highest-rated game of the year on Metacritic. It’s even somehow got better over time with free updates and levels.
While it’s a little bit of a shame not to see an underdog or surprising pick like Balatro or Black Myth: Wukong take the award and give us all a shock, Astro Bot’s relentless creativity, pitch-perfect platforming, and pure joy make it a very worthy winner, and one that hopefully reminds big publishers (cough, PlayStation) of the power of this kind of game. Here’s hoping we get to see Astro make a victory lap soon.
Next
Indiana Jones Is Showing Me What Gamers Take For Granted
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and also the Yellow Paint.