Which GOTY Awards has the best history of winners?

[Madmick]

Idea for this thread occurred to me after posting the Steam Awards thread. I wanted to go back to 2014, since the PS4 and XB1 came out at the end of 2013, to make this a competition of the 8th & 9th generations, but the Steam Awards only goes back to 2017, so I'll set the cutoff there. That effectively starts things with Gen 8.5+ since the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, even though they weren't particularly significant in terms of sales numbers, released in late 2016 and late 2017, respectively, and the Nintendo Switch came along in 2017. So it lines up nicely, anyway. The DICE and the Game Developer's Choice Awards don't announce their winners for 2025 for a few months, so I left 2025 winners off.

I could throw a shitload of lists out, but that seems overwhelming. So I'm including the big three ceremonies, two fan votes, the biggest gaming publication, one of the most respected reviewer publications of all time, and probably the biggest Youtuber specializing in gaming reviews.


The Game Awards
2024: Astro Bot
2023: Baldur's Gate 3
2022: Elden Ring
2021: It Takes Two
2020: The Last of Us, Part II
2019: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
2018: God of War
2017: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

D.I.C.E.
2024: Astro Bot
2023: Baldur's Gate 3
2022: Elden Ring
2021: It Takes Two
2020: Hades
2019: Untitled Goose Game
2018: God of War
2017: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Game Developer's Choice
2024: Balatro
2023: Baldur's Gate 3
2022: Elden Ring
2021: Inscryption
2020: Hades
2019: Untitled Goose Game
2018: God of War
2017: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Golden Joystick
2024: Black Myth: Wukong
2023: Baldur's Gate 3
2022: Elden Ring
2021: Resident Evil Village
2020: The Last of Us, Part II
2019: Resident Evil 2
2018: Fortnite: Battle Royale
2017: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Steam Awards
2024: Black Myth: Wukong
2023: Baldur's Gate 3
2022: Elden Ring
2021: Resident Evil Village
2020: Red Dead Redemption 2*
2019: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
2018: PUBG: Battlegrounds
2017: The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt*

IGN
2024: Metaphor: ReFantazio
2023: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
2022: Elden Ring
2021: Forza Horizon 5
2020: Hades
2019: Control
2018: God of War
2017: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Giant Bomb
2024: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
2023: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
2022: Elden Ring
2021: Chicory: A Colorful Tale
2020: Hades
2019: Outer Wilds
2018: Tetris Effect
2017: PUBG: Battlegrounds

Angry Joe
2024: Black Myth: Wukong
2023: Baldur's Gate 3
2022: Elden Ring
2021: It Takes Two
2020: Ghost of Tsushima
2019: Resident Evil 2
2018: God of War
2017: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild


*Special note: Steam doesn't limit candidates to the year the game releases. You'll probably notice the 2020 winner is Red Dead Redemption 2, but that makes sense because the PC port of that game didn't release until November, 2019. Meanwhile, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt released on PC in 2015 alongside the console versions, but it got a second wind with the special GOTY Edition release at the end of 2016, so that explains why it won the vote in 2017

 

[Zazen]

Game Awards with the exception of Overwatch winning over Uncharted 4. Based on the lists you provided they get it right the most often. Although I'm not entirely pleased with the way they handle giving some awards like it's an afterthought. When Soken barely got recognition for winning best soundtrack for FFXVI I was a bit upset. Dude fought through cancer and all during that time he came up with these beautiful tracks. I think some of the streamer shit needs to be cut in exchange for real creators. Other than that I do really enjoy watching them each year.

 

[My Spot]

It's always funny to see people act like The Game Awards is a big deal when it's basically the MTV Music Video show for video games.

 

[Zazen]

It's always funny to see people act like The Game Awards is a big deal when it's basically the MTV Music Video show for video games.

171 million viewers versus 5 million.....

To put that in perspective the most watched Superbowl was viewed by 127 million people.

 

[HereticBD]

The ones I really used to get a kick out of before he went all crazy and weird, were the "Jimquisition Awards".

Sterling used to be so damn good before he put on the dress and became some militant activist.

As a whole though, I think "game awards" started out even more worthless than the Grammy's, and they never really improved.

 

[KaNesDeath]

I could throw a shitload of lists out, but that seems overwhelming. So I'm including the big three ceremonies, two fan votes, the biggest gaming publication, one of the most respected reviewer publications of all time, and probably the biggest Youtuber specializing in gaming reviews.

Video games industry has had this escalating problem since JustinTV's rebranding success. Desire to incorporate traditional media ventures for validation.

 

[Madmick]

Game Awards with the exception of Overwatch winning over Uncharted 4. Based on the lists you provided they get it right the most often. Although I'm not entirely pleased with the way they handle giving some awards like it's an afterthought. When Soken barely got recognition for winning best soundtrack for FFXVI I was a bit upset. Dude fought through cancer and all during that time he came up with these beautiful tracks. I think some of the streamer shit needs to be cut in exchange for real creators. Other than that I do really enjoy watching them each year.

This is just the last eight years. Analyzing the deeper history, using the Acclaimed Games list as the reference for the canon (since any reference will itself be subjective), DICE picks the best GOTY more often than The Game Awards. There are other sources you could use, of course, as a reference.

There's trends that reveal themself if you look everything over. The overarching pattern with the Game Awards is obvious, and it makes sense. It will always pick money. It is the most commercial award ceremony, after all. They worship at the altar of the almighty dollar. Nothing more to it. Not caused by this, but probably correlating to this, they will almost invariably favor AAA games that are blockbusters in the console space. This theory explains why, for example, back when it was the Spike Awards, they chose Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas over Half-Life 2. It's also explains the discrepancy of picking GTA V over The Last of Us, but then picking the inferior The Last of Us Part II over Hades.

Although on the flipside I'm not always with the hipster take of the only marginally more indie-friendly major ceremonies in the D.I.C.E. or the GDC. Journey is the most overrated "game" of all time, IMO, and I'd take The Walking Dead over it in a heartbeat. But that pick for 2012 sucks ass, too. Both are terrible choices.

 

[Bacco]

TGA and Dicee for having Astrobot as #1
The rain of tears from people with no taste or culture crying that "real videogamers" must not like Astrobot because platform/colors/forKidz was refreshing as fuck

 

[method115]

TGA for me. Always agreed with their picks for GOTY.

 

[Madmick]

171 million viewers versus 5 million.....

To put that in perspective the most watched Superbowl was viewed by 127 million people.

171m live streams. That isn't viewers. Every stream initiation is counted.

Peak concurrent viewership for the ceremony this year set a new record for itself at 4.4m. That's lower than the 5.5m for the latest VMAs, and it's barely a third of the 12.4m peak for the VMAs back in 2011.

 

[Natural Order]

EldenGOAT the only unanimous choice for a given year.

 

[Pittie Petey]

JustinTV

Shout out to the homie Crusader

@My Spot

 

[Zazen]

171m live streams. That isn't viewers. Every stream initiation is counted.

Peak concurrent viewership for the ceremony this year set a new record for itself at 4.4m. That's lower than the 5.5m for the latest VMAs, and it's barely a third of the 12.4m peak for the VMAs back in 2011.

That’s oddly low. Feels like there’s way more cultural impact of Game Awards versus MTV awards. For example on X there’s a lot more posts made about it and the video game industry makes a lot more money. Kind of surprised if that’s true

 

[KaNesDeath]

That’s oddly low. Feels like there’s way more cultural impact of Game Awards versus MTV awards. For example on X there’s a lot more posts made about it and the video game industry makes a lot more money. Kind of surprised if that’s true

VMA's were birthed using traditional media as The Grammys for tweens to young adults. The Game Awards positioned itself as free live react content using new media. Where said influencers regularly use other new media as a means to drive viewer engagement.

 

[method115]

That’s oddly low. Feels like there’s way more cultural impact of Game Awards versus MTV awards. For example on X there’s a lot more posts made about it and the video game industry makes a lot more money. Kind of surprised if that’s true

I do wonder what the real total is though because a lot of gaming podcasts also stream the show with live reactions. That’s how I watched it.

The channel I was on had over 1 million live viewers throughout the show.

 

[Madmick]

I do wonder what the real total is though because a lot of gaming podcasts also stream the show with live reactions. That’s how I watched it.

The channel I was on had over 1 million live viewers throughout the show.

What do you mean what is the "real total"? It was 4.4m peak live concurrent viewers. The largest single stream's concurrent viewer count was 1.4m.

Game Awards 2025: 171M Global Viewers, Livestream Record Broken | Outlook Respawn

Game Awards 2025 draws 171M viewers, sets gaming awards livestream record, highlighting growing global viewership across digital platforms.

respawn.outlookindia.com

Organizers credited the increase to the show's wider global distribution via digital channels. The ceremony was livestreamed on YouTube, Twitch, Steam, TikTok Live, X (previously Twitter), Kick, Facebook, and Instagram Live, as well as regional services in China and Jio Hotstar in India.

Unless you're talking about counting up all the Twitch streamers who were unofficially viewing the ceremony on their own streams, and counting up all their stream's viewers, which would be a modest piecemeal to add, and maybe they counted those, though I doubt it, this is the real figure for concurrent viewership. It's sort of impossible to give figures for "total viewers" because they can't be counted like traditional old school Nielsen viewing boxes where each has a unique signature.

 

[method115]

Unless you're talking about counting up all the Twitch streamers who were unofficially viewing the ceremony on their own streams, and counting up all their stream's viewers, which would be a modest piecemeal to add, and maybe they counted those, though I doubt it, this is the real figure for concurrent viewership. It's sort of impossible to give figures for "total viewers" because they can't be counted like traditional old school Nielsen viewing boxes where each has a unique signature.

Yea this is what I was talking about. I was never sure if they were even able to count viewers that come in through other youtubers\twitch channels.

 

[Madmick]

Yea this is what I was talking about. I was never sure if they were even able to count viewers that come in through other youtubers\twitch channels.

It looks like any streamers who used the tool Twitch offered to register as a "co-streamer" would have had their viewers counted, but the biggest streamers like Ninja didn't, and he might have tuned in part of the time. But since nobody would have had a peak viewer count above the official stream's 345K (on Twitch), like I said, even scraping all of those together piecemeal wouldn't add that much.

Note: these show the highest peak counts for the last 30 days, so for the next 6 days, that will include the range subsuming TGA broadcast:

The Most Watched The Game Awards Twitch Streamers, January 2026

vs.

The Highest Peak Viewership Twitch Streamers, January 2026

 

[KaNesDeath]

Yea this is what I was talking about. I was never sure if they were even able to count viewers that come in through other youtubers\twitch channels.

Theyre counted. Primarily for marketing purposes. With a byproduct of why all game studio leads show up when nominated.

Was made popular by Riot Games in 2020 to pump their Valorant esports numbers.

 

[Madmick]

Theyre counted. Primarily for marketing purposes. With a byproduct of why all game studio leads show up when nominated.

Was made popular by Riot Games in 2020 to pump their Valorant esports numbers.

Viewers are only counted for officially registered "co-streamers" who use the tool Twitch made available-- nobody else. You can see those in the top link I showed above. Most of these were smaller streamers, not major streamers, and this was the variable @method115 wondered about.