Game Awards voters slam decision to include Elden Ring DLC in GOTY category

The Game Awards revealed all six finalists for the 2024 Game of the Year award, and some fans think that Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree shouldn’t qualify.

In 2022, Elden Ring won The Game Award for Game of the Year. FromSoftware’s latest hit sensation shattered records, selling 25 million copies ahead of the Shadow of Erdtree DLC’s launch in June 2023.

This milestone put Elden Ring in the top 50 list of the best-selling video games of all time, and the Shadow of the Erdtree bolstered the title’s reputation. We gave the DLC five out of five stars for providing a fitting ending to the story.

Yet the question is whether the expansion warrants a Game of the Year award. Astro Bot, Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Metaphor: Refantazio are all up for the award this year.

FromSoftware/Dexerto

Ahead of the nominations getting announced, Wario 64 reported on November 16, “The Game Awards: Expansion packs, new game seasons, DLCs, remakes, and remasters are eligible in all categories if the jury deems the new creative and technical work worthy of a nomination.”

In response, Popular Twitch streamer Lirik argued, “DLC/Remakes should be separated from categories like GOTY – isn’t this obvious?”

Fans don’t question the DLC’s quality, but the nomination creates potential controversy moving forward. Fellow content creator Night Sky claimed, “I don’t think a single person alive with any credibility is questioning the quality of Shadow of the Erdtree, but this really does feel like an excuse to give Elden Ring GOTY twice.”

Let’s look at what Shadow of the Erdtree offers to understand better why this decision was made. The DLC’s core plot takes 15-20 hours, but hardcore fans can take closer to around 40-50 hours to do everything.

That boils down to Shadow of the Erdtree introducing 55 new bosses to defeat, and the map is about 40% smaller than the original game, which is about equivalent to two new regions. This nomination sets a precedent for future nominations, and that disappointed some fans.

Popular titles such as HellDivers 2, Silent Hill 2, Tekken 8, and Animal Well all missed a nomination. In addition, this leads to the question of whether or not the Diablo IV and Destiny 2 expansions could have been eligible.

Fans can tune into The Game Awards on Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. EST to see who ultimately takes home the win.