As we prepare to wrap up 2021, it’s time for one of the most important gaming events of the year: The Game Awards. With thirty two different categories, the award show recognizes the newest games at the forefront of development, writing, and design. From eSports to VR, fighting to family, there are hundreds of games that come out every year that deserve recognition.
But…there can only be one Game of the Year 2021.
The judges consider all the new releases for the year and nominate the games that “deliver the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.” This year there are six nominees for gamers to vote for:
Deathloop by Bethesda and Arkane Studios
It Takes Two by EA and Hazelight Studios
Metroid Dread by Nintendo and Mercury Steam
Psychonauts 2 by XBox Game Studios and Double Fine
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart by Sony and Insomniac Games
Resident Evil Village by Capcom
Your Winner Guesses
Yesterday, we asked our Instagram community to tell us which game they thought was most likely to win. (Not most deserving necessarily! Just the most likely.) And the response was an overwhelming consensus.
Coming in with 45% of the vote, most of you forecasted that Resident Evil Village is going to take it away with Game of the Year. And who can blame you? From marketing to game time—even just the memes—it’s certainly had a huge cultural impact on 2021. Even people outside of the gaming community began to understand enough about Resident Evil to take part in the fun.
REV ran away with the vote, and opinions on the other six games were pretty evenly split. Deathloop and Metroid Dread tied for second place with 13.3%, It Takes Two and Ratchet & Clank tying for third with 10%, and Psychonauts 2 coming in last with 8.3%.
Your Winner Opinions
However, when we asked what game should win Game of the Year, responses were a lot more spread out. Instead of six pre-approved nominees, we got a dozen different answers. Resident Evil Village still held its own with 17.4%, but it only tied for second. At neck and neck was Back 4 Blood, because nothing says “good time” like wasting some zombies with your friends…while they’re on fire. (The community team can tell you all about what a blast B4B is. You can check out our past streams with Leslie and Steven on YouTube or our Twitch channel.)
But coming in at first place with a quarter of all votes was Life is Strange: True Colors. Life is Strange has definitely made a foothold in the gaming landscape, with its compelling storytelling and stunning colors and graphics. The plot has unique lore, and enough twists and surprises to keep you guessing, even after you get comfortable. While the game isn’t nominated for GotY, it is up for the Best Narrative category. So we have high hopes it’ll show it’s true colors there. (Ba dum tst.)
Your Games of the Year
But just because it’s a new release doesn’t mean it has your heart. Most of us are guilty of playing and playing our comfort games year round, or else being tragically behind on our playlist and only just catching up to the hype. So instead of just asking what should win, we asked you what was your game of the year: the one you played the most, the one you loved the most, the one that held your heart and your attention.
We really love asking questions like this to the Loot Crate community, because we’re always guaranteed a diverse answer. We got thirty-two different game recommendations, more than half of which were only submitted by one or two people. Everyone has their own unique taste and their own passions. (And to the one person who said Goldeneye: your taste is impeccable. Never apologize.)
The most popular games didn’t come as a surprise. The Last of Us saw a lot of love, as did Fallout and Minecraft. (We already know Looters love Minecraft. You can read about that here.) Destiny and The Elder Scrolls tied for third, and then in fourth, Dead by Daylight.
There were dozens of other games that you love, and we love to hear that you love them! It just goes to show that sometimes, it takes a village to make a community. ?
