Should DLCs Really Be in the Running for Game of the Year?

People also noticed that Game Awards changed its FAQ on November 15 to say that DLCs are eligible for Game of the Year “if the jury deems the new creative and technical work to be worthy of a nomination.” The change seems like an obvious attempt to get ahead at what the Game Awards team sensed to be a controversy in the making. It gives them something to point at and say, “No, no, three days ago, we made it clear that these are the rules!”

This all comes as both journalists and the public have expressed frustration with The Game Awards in recent years. It’s become more apparent that the ceremony is entirely at Keighley’s whim. Last year’s ceremony in particular seemed more preoccupied with showcasing the celebrities in attendance than actually celebrating the games at hand.

Fans, creatives, and journalists alike were also quick to call out Keighley in 2023 for ignoring the 10,000 layoffs which plagued the industry (and has more than doubled since) and for ignoring Game Awards’ Future Class’s petition to acknowledge the crisis in Gaza. The latter appears to have so irked Keighley, a 2024 Future Class has yet to be announced.

Why The Game Awards Deserves the Criticism

All of that frustration around The Game Awards came to a head when the Game of the Year nominees were announced on November 18, 2024. And the frustration is valid.

The issue is not about Shdaow of the Erdtree‘s quality or excellence. There is an argument to be made that the “creative and technical work” on Erdtree is substantial enough to warrant a nod this significant. Erdtree does feel different than the base Elden Ring in several ways, like its incorporation of height and depth into level design. It also takes 25 or more hours to finish, which is admittedly longer than fellow GOTY nominee Astro Bot.

But you can’t play Shadow of the Erdtree without getting 75% of the way through Elden Ring. And Shadow of the Erdtree cannot exist outside of the systems of the main game. Its gameplay and leveling are isolated from Elden Ring, but players can still bring items, weapons, armor, and more from Elden Ring into Erdtree, and vice versa. In other words, Erdtree is a DLC—something which exists with a symbiotic relationship to a larger game.

Of course, games like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth build off the systems and environments of their predecessors, and you could argue that’s no different than how Erdtree builds off of Elden Ring. The difference is that you can jump right into Rebirth without playing 80 hours of Final Fantasy VII Remake. That’s a fundamentally different experience.

Many fans find it harder to swallow because Elden Ring won Game of the Year upon its own release. Additionally, Erdtree‘s nomination bumped off several highly deserving games from Game of the Year contention, such as Helldivers 2, Silent Hill 2, or Stellar Blade. Or, to really get people’s respect, the slot could have gone to another one of this year’s highly deserving indie games, like Animal Well or 1000xResist.

The solution seems obvious. Credit should absolutely be given to outstanding expansions and DLCs for older games, and stellar works like Shadow of the Erdtree could very easily be recognized in a separate category for DLCs specifically. Games like FFXIV and Fortnite have been consistently nominated in the Best Ongoing Games category for a while, so why not create a Best DLC/Expansion category as well to cater to those games?

If Shadow of the Erdtree actually wins Game of the Year, people are going to be furious. And rightfully so—Erdtree is incredible, but the experience is offers is completely different than a standalone game. And we’re talking about Game of the Year.

To make up for this blunder, one can only hope Balatro wins.