At 1 a.m. Beijing time on November 19, TGA officially announced the nominations for this year's Game Awards. Among the most watched Game of the Year nominees are:

"Cosmic Robot", "Clown", "Black Myth: Wukong", "Elden Ring: Shadow of the Golden Tree", "Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth"

Metaphorical Fantasy

In addition to being nominated for Game of the Year, Black Myth: Wukong also received four nominations for Best Action Game, Best Art Direction, and Best Game Director. In addition, three domestic games, "Sword and Expedition: Departure", "Singing Tide" and "Jeopardy Zero", were also nominated for the best mobile game. (Full list of nominees attached at the end of this article)

In this Game of the Year nomination, we also saw the DLC Elden Ring: Shadow of the Golden Tree and the recast Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth. The DLC was nominated for the Game of the Year Award for the first time for the 10th anniversary TGA. As for whether the DLC and remastered games should be nominated for Game of the Year, the controversy began long before the nominations were made public.

Game Xiaonian, or is it for "Black Myth"?

The announcement of the nomination came the weekend following the announcement of the TGA's updated explanation of the Game of the Year rules in the latest Q&A interface, announcing that DLC, expansions, remakes, and remaster games were all eligible to compete for the Game of the Year Award (GOTY).

Some players interpret this move as an official preparation for the DLC to be nominated for Game of the Year. Although the TGA does not stipulate that games such as DLC and remastered versions cannot compete for the Game of the Year award, looking back at the history of the TGA, DLC has only been selected for Best RPG ("The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine") and Best Ongoing Operation ("Cyberpunk 2077: Shadows of the Past") and other categories at most, and has not been nominated for Game of the Year.

Before announcing the nominations, the official deliberately emphasized in the QA section that DLC can also participate in the nomination, which is obviously paving the way for "Shadow of the Golden Tree" to be nominated for nomination. In the end, the DLC did appear in the list of nominees for Game of the Year, confirming everyone's suspicions.

In this regard, many overseas players expressed their opinions, believing that DLC being selected as the game of the year reduces the gold content of the award.

It is undeniable that this year is a small year for games, and there are neither the grand occasions of "Red Dead Redemption" vs. "God of War", nor the showdown between "Balder's Gate 3" and "Tears of the Kingdom".

It can also be seen from the list of nominees that there are not many masterpieces this year. The official can only use DLC and remastered versions to "make up the numbers". But for domestic players, this year's small year has a special significance, that is, the arrival of "Black Myth".

However, as a domestic game, "Black Myth" is in a very delicate situation in the West. Previously, in the nomination process of the British Game Awards Golden Joystick Awards, "Black Myth" has experienced some twists and turns. The game started with only one category nomination, and it wasn't until a player outcry that it was officially renominated for Best Game.

So in this TGA selection process, when players see the official emphasis that DLC will also participate in the selection, they can't help but wonder if this is for "Black Myth"? Some players even speculated that the DLC was nominated in order to squeeze out the spot for "Black Myth".

Of course, judging by the final nominations, the conspiracy theories did not happen. "Black Myth" has still been nominated for a number of awards, especially in the context of the general weakness of overseas game products this year, "Black Myth" does have enough strength to compete for various awards.

Does the TGA need China or does China need the TGA?

In fact, the Western game awards represented by the TGA are themselves in a crisis of declining attention. In the case of the TGA, the background of the award is actually the product of the declining influence of the Western game media. It has been ten years since it opened in 2014, and there has been no shortage of controversy.

Over the past decade, the media landscape has changed dramatically. When information is no longer monopolized by the media, when players have more and more channels to obtain information, the authority of traditional media declines, or even ceases publication. GameInformer ceased publication in August of this year due to the impact of online media.

In order to regain the attention of players, the media has thought of many ways, and it is obviously a good choice to launch the Game of the Year Award in a group. Since the selection of the grand prize is to regain the attention of players, the official must take into account the emotions of all players when judging the awards. But in this way, entanglements also arise, especially when it comes to games like Black Myth.

On the one hand, as a game produced in China, "Black Myth" does not belong to the Western sequence, and its content does not conform to Western political correctness. The more successful it became, the more it aroused the displeasure of certain Western demographics, especially the Western media. This is also the reason why the game's average media score on the MC is only 81 points. Being selected for the Game of the Year award also makes it the lowest-rated Game of the Year since the TGA Awards.

According to this, some overseas media Comicbook published an article saying that "< Black Myth: Wukong> is not worthy of the TGA Best Nomination of the Year". "It's hard for me to understand why Black Myth: Wukong was nominated for Game of the Year from a few other games that seemed more worthy of nominations," the author said in the article. ”

But on the other hand, "Black Myth" has won the sincere support of a large number of players by virtue of its game quality, including a large number of overseas players. According to Niko Partners, as of August 30, "Black Myth: Wukong" accounted for 25% of overseas sales, and it is expected to sell more than 5 million copies overseas. In Sony's latest quarterly financial report, it was also mentioned that the "action RPG game from China" increased its revenue, which confirmed the game's overseas sales.

And the praise that "Black Myth" has received as the "first college student" in China is needless to say. And this sense of pride is not only popular in China, but also radiates a large number of overseas Chinese players.

The huge player base forms a natural traffic pool, and for a traffic anxiety award event like the TGA, it is impossible to miss such traffic. This year, it is clear that the TGA has opened more media channels for Chinese players. On the eve of the announcement of the game's nominations, TGA officially announced that it would enter Weibo, and said that it would start the live broadcast of the final awards on multiple live broadcast channels in December.

In the early hours of this morning, the official account also posted two separate Weibo posts for "Black Myth: Wukong" to be nominated for the best game of the year.

Clearly, the TGA knows how much traffic it will bring to the Black Myth nomination. On the other side of the world, there are millions of players who suddenly care about this jackpot that they don't care much about, and for the 10th anniversary TGA, this is a great opportunity to expand its influence and greatly alleviate their traffic anxiety. Compared with the Golden Joystick Award, which ignores and regrets first, the TGA direct nomination is at least much more decent.

Of course, nominating does not mean winning. Although Black Myth has huge sales, high sales do not guarantee that the game will win the grand prize, and "Hogwarts Legacy", which sold 24 million copies last year, did not win any awards. But this year, the TGA is caught in a new problem, that is, none of the competitors of "Black Myth" can beat.

Black Myth isn't perfect, of course, and it's no surprise if you lose the jackpot to opponents like Red Dead Redemption and The Legend of Zelda. However, in the face of the competitors who were nominated this year, "Black Myth" is really true.

So the problem was still thrown back to the TGA. The grand prize is given to "Black Myth", which will definitely offend a group of basic people of Western media, and end up with a "media bowing to traffic"; But if you don't give "Black Myth", then most of the new traffic that has been gathered will be dispersed, offending the players of "Black Myth" and consuming its own authority.

Regardless of the choice, the controversy at this year's TGA Awards of the Year will continue. And the essence of this controversy is that the Western media not only wants the traffic and wallets of Chinese players, but also wants to maintain the prejudice and suppression of Chinese games in the West. The result of both wanting and wanting is likely to be the loss of the wife and the loss of the army.

In the end, having said that, as players, we don't really need to take awards like TGA too seriously. As for the honor, the game has already been ironic through the mouth of Elder Jinchi: If I don't put on this robe, how will the world know that my fate is exhausted and the sea of gold is exhausted?

What we should be more concerned about than honors is whether games like "Black Myth" can continue to appear. For Chinese games to develop, what is needed is not for a "Black Myth" to win all the awards, but for more and more high-quality games that can reach the level of "Black Myth" to continue to appear. At that time, it really doesn't matter if there is an extra robe.

——The following is the full list of nominees——

Game of the Year

·《Cosmic Robot》

·《Clown Card》

Black Myth: Wukong

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Golden Tree

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

·《Metaphorical Fantasy: ReFantazio》

Best Mobile Game

· Sword & Crusade: Departure

· "Clown Card"

· Pokémon Trading Card Game

· "Singing Tide"

· Jeopardy Zero

Best Game Coach

· Cosmic Robot

· Black Myth: Wukong

· "Clown Card"

· Elden Ring: Shadow of the Golden Tree

· Metaphorical Fantasy: ReFantazio

· Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

Best Art Direction

· Black Myth: Wukong

· Cosmic Robot

· Elden Ring: Shadow of the Golden Tree

· Metaphorical Fantasy: ReFantazio

· 《Neva》

Best Action Game

· Black Myth: Wukong

· Sword Star

· Warhammer 40K: Space Marines 2

· Jedi Diver 2

· Call of Duty 21: Black Ops 6

The most anticipated game

· 《GTA6》

· Death Stranding 2

· Monster Hunter: Wildlands

· The Soul of Mt. Yotei

· Metroid 4

Best action-adventure game

· Silent Hill 2: Remastered

· Cosmic Robot

· Star Wars: Outlaws

· Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

· The Legend of Zelda: The Reappearance of Wisdom

Best Narrative Game

· Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

· Metaphorical Fantasy: ReFantazio

· Like a Dragon 8

· Hellblade 2: Senua's Epic

· Silent Hill 2

Best Soundtrack/Music

· Cosmic Robot

· Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

· Metaphorical Fantasy: ReFantazio

· Silent Hill 2

· Sword Star

Best sound design

· Cosmic Robot

· Call of Duty 21: Black Ops 6

· Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

· Hellblade 2: Senua's Epic

· Silent Hill 2

Best Performance

· Briana White, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

· Hannah Telle, Life is Strange: Double Exposure

· Humberly González, Star Wars: Outlaw

· Luke Roberts, Silent Hill 2

· Melina Juergens, Hellblade 2: Senua's Epic

Best Accessibility Innovation

· Call of Duty 21: Black Ops 6

· Diablo IV

· Dragon Age: Shadow Guardian

· Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

· Star Wars: Outlaws

Best VR/AR Game

· Arizona Sunshine: Remastered

· Wrath of Asgard 2

· Batman: Arkham Shadow

· Heavy Metal: Hellsingers

· Metro: Awakening

Best RPG

· Dragon's Dogma 2

· Elden Ring: Shadow of the Golden Tree

· Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

· Like a Dragon 8

· Metaphorical Fantasy: ReFantazio

Best Fighting Game

· Dragon Ball Electric Light Explosion! ZERO》

· Granblue Fantasy: Versus

· Marvel VS Capcom: Infinite

· Multiverse Smash Bros.

· Tekken 8

Best Family Game

· Cosmic Robot

· "Princess Brigitte Show Time! 》

· Super Mario Party: An Unprecedented Event

· The Legend of Zelda: The Reappearance of Wisdom

· Brave Little Knight

Best Strategy Simulation Game

· Age of Mythology: Retold Edition

· Frostpunk 2

· "The Path of the Goddess"

· Lords of the Manor

· King of the Sacred Beasts

Best Sports Game

· 《F1 24》

· 《EA SPORTS FC 25》

· 《NBA 2K25》

· 《Top Spin 2K25》

· 《WWE 2K24》

Best Multiplayer Game

· Call of Duty 21: Black Ops 6

· Hell Trooper 2

· Super Mario Party: An Unprecedented Event

· Tekken 8

· Warhammer 40K: Space Marines 2

Best Adaptation

· Anime "Battle of Two Cities"

· Fallout

· Movie "Knuckles"

· Drama "Like a Dragon"

· Anime Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Crawford

Content Creator of the Year

· CASEOH

· ILLOJUAN

· TECHO GAMERZ

· TYPICALGAMER

· Rabbit field Pekra

Best Esports Game

· 《CS2》

· 《DOTA2》

· League of Legends

· "Decisive Peak"

· Valorant

Best Esports Player

· 33

· ALEKSIB

· CHOVY

· FAKER

· ZYWOO

· ZMJJKK

Best Esports Team

· Bilibili Gaming League of Legends

· Gen.G League of Legends

· Navi《CS2》

· T1 League of Legends

· Team Liquid《DOTA2》

The most influential game

· 《Closer the Distance》

· Intica

· 《Neva》

· Life is Strange: Double Exposure

· Hellblade 2: Senua's Epic

· The Legend of Kenzela: Zau

Optimal Continuity of Operations

· Destiny 2

· Diablo IV

· Final Fantasy XIV

· Fortnite

· Hell Trooper 2

Best Community Support

· Baldur's Gate 3

· Final Fantasy XIV

· Fortnite

· Hell Trooper 2

· No Man's Sky

Best Indie Game

· Animal Wells

· "Clown Card"

· Lorelei and Laser Eye

· 《Neva》

· 《UFO 50》

Best Independent Debut Novel

· Animal Wells

· "Clown Card"

· Lords of the Manor

· Supernatural Journey

· Brave Little Knight

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