A controversial new rule change means the Game Awards will now allow DLCs and expansions for existing games to be nominated for Game of the Year from the next show in December. This seems like no coincidence, considering Elden Ring’s massive Shadow of the Erdtree expansion was one of the highest-rated, best-loved games of the year. But is this…a game? Game Rewards are now handled as follows This problem in the FAQ:

Are DLCs, expansion packs, and remakes/remasters eligible?

“The Game Awards aim to reward the best creative and technical work each year, regardless of the way the content is published. Expansion packs, new game seasons, DLCs, remakes and remastered games will be eligible in all categories if the jury finds new creative and technical work worthy of nomination. Factors such as the newness of the content and its price/value should be taken into account.”

Generally speaking, I see people, whether journalists or actors, saying this is wrong. In the case of Shadow of the Erdtree, despite its size, you not only need to have Elden Ring, but you also need to have played a large amount of Elden Ring to even start it. When I made this rule, I think something like Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty came to mind, but it’s still the same situation.

Personally, this is very strange. The shadow of Erdtree now like that My favorite release of the year. Ghost Freedom it was It’s also my favorite broadcast of that year. But even with that, I’m not sure I can get behind the idea that these can count as “games” when they’re not standalone offerings. Frankly, something like Miles Morales, which is a standalone spinoff of Spider-Man despite using the same city, should count. What about actual DLC and expansions? They probably need their own category.

But here’s the thing: Just because this rule now allows these expansions to be nominated doesn’t mean they’ll actually be nominated. Even though I think these are my favorite releases from a given year and probably shouldn’t count, that’s something any number of nominators could believe as well, and thus fall short of the required nomination threshold. even if the rule now “allows” this. All in all, I’m a bit surprised that Erdtree was nominated, and I doubt he’ll actually have a chance of winning, even with this rule change.

The way The Game Awards creates categories is always weird. One of the major issues still unresolved is that if a GOTY nominee is in a subcategory like Best Adventure game, then by default to have Winning this category makes the whole thing a bit pointless for other games. However, this is a separate issue and we will see how the expansion issue plays out in December.

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