December is one of the most-awaited months of the year, with The Game Awards celebrating the year in gaming. It is when the most prestigious Game Of The Year award is given to the industry-changing titles of the year. The Game Awards is the ultimate gaming ceremony every publisher, developer, and gamer always looks forward to.
However, a recent Reddit post revealed that The Game Awards has announced that DLCs, expansion packs, remakes, and remasters are now eligible for nomination. This means that any DLC is now eligible for the Game Of The Year award.
Many gamers in the Reddit thread found this announcement ludicrous, and some joked about nominating the infamous Oblivion Horse Armor.
Related: All the Golden Joystick Award 2024 Nominees
Of course, DLCs and expansions are not full games themselves. The very definition of the acronym "DLC" means "downloadable content." According to Dictionary.com, an "expansion" is "additional content for a video game, card game, board game, etc., that significantly expands or alters the way the game is played."
Everyone knows the meaning of these two terms, which refer to them as add-ons to an existing game. However, these add-ons cannot exist without the base games.
The gaming community thinks having these add-ons eligible for winning GOTY is ridiculous. Imagine voting in 2020 for the telco skins, such as the Verizon skin in Marvel's Avengers, along with games like Ghost of Tsushima or Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Having DLCs eligible to win the Game Of The Year award sums up the state of gaming in 2024.
Many players say that The Game Awards specifically added this to make Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree win a GOTY award this year. While it is undeniably fantastic with a 94 Metascore on Metacritic, Shadow of the Erdtree is still an expansion to the already GOTY-decorated Elden Ring.
If you try to access the official Game Awards FAQ link via the Reddit post, you'll be redirected to the announcement page instead, with a countdown for the nominee announcement this November 18.
The Game Awards may soon make a new announcement, as many fans believe these add-ons should be given a separate category, such as "DLC of the Year" or "Remaster of the Year."
Some DLCs, like The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine, are beautiful and game-changing, ultimately changing the gaming experience. However, these expansions are nothing without the foundation of the base games.
Nominating DLCs as GOTY-eligible add-ons can result in half-baked video games at full price, giving the consumers or gamers the shorter end of the stick.
This also goes to show how some DLCs are ruining gaming. Everyone who knows the Asura’s Wrath: Episode Pack - Part IV DLC has the true ending of the game behind a paywall. Don't forget Tekken 7's $2.99 Frame Data DLC. Konami tried to sell frame data, a basic feature, behind a paywall.
The Game Awards is the biggest celebration in gaming. Still, some will find it difficult to celebrate video games now that the awarding body seems to consider that DLCs such as Asura’s Wrath: Episode Pack - Part IV are eligible for winning Game Of The Year.
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