The Game Award for Game of the Year

The Game Awards has a voting jury consisting of over 100 video game media and influencer outlets, which have been specifically selected for their work in critically evaluating video games. Each outlet completes an unranked ballot listing its top five choices; games with the most appearances across the ballots are selected as the nominees. The winners are determined between the jury (90%) and public voting (10%).^[1] The public vote is held via the official website and social media platforms such as Discord, Facebook, and Twitter;^[2][3] in China, fan voting is held via Bilibili.^[1]

Any game released before a certain date in November prior to the ceremony is eligible for award consideration.^[4] As a result, any game released after the cutoff date is eligible in the following year's ceremony,^[1] such as 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate nominations at the Game Awards 2019;^[5] similarly, games released between the ballot due date in early November and the cutoff date in mid-to-late November are often overlooked, such as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in both 2019 and 2020^[a] and Demon's Souls and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales in 2020.^[4] Early access games available before the cutoff date are eligible, as are live service games regardless of their release year:^[1] 2018's Among Us received several nominations in 2020.^[9]

The Game Award for Game of the Year is given to a video game judged to deliver the best experience across creative and technical fields.^[10] It is presented as the final award of the ceremony and is widely considered its most prestigious honor.^[11][12][13] Since 2017, the announcement of the winner has been preceded by a medley performance of the scores of each nominee by the Game Awards Orchestra, conducted by Lorne Balfe.^[14][15] The category was expanded from five to six nominees in 2018.^[16]

The award is traditionally accepted by the director of the winning game or an executive from the studio; the first award in 2014 was accepted by Dragon Age: Inquisition executive producer Mark Darrah and BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn.^[17] The Game Awards host and producer Geoff Keighley presented the award for the first four ceremonies.^{[11][18][19][20]} Other presenters include directors of past winners—such as 2016 winner Overwatch's lead director Jeff Kaplan in 2018,^[21] 2020 winner The Last of Us Part II's creative director Neil Druckmannin2021,^[12] and 2021 winner It Takes Two's director Josef Faresin2022^[22]—and celebrity guests like Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez in 2019,^[23] Christopher Nolan in 2020,^[24] and Timothée Chalamet in 2023.^[25]

Winners are listed first, highlighted in yellow and boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).