Game of the Year (GotY) is an award given by various award events and media publications to a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

that they feel represented the pinnacle of gaming that year.

Events and ceremonies

British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA Games Awards)

The

British Academy Games Awards The BAFTA Games Awards or British Academy Games Awards are an annual British awards ceremony honouring "outstanding creative achievement" in the video game industry. First presented in 2004 following the restructuring of the BAFTA Interactive En ...

are an annual British awards ceremony honoring "outstanding creative achievement" in the video game industry. First presented in 2004 following the restructuring of the

BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards The British Academy of Film and Television Arts ( BAFTA) annually hosted the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards for multimedia entertainment between 1998 and 2003. In 2003, BAFTA announced the award would be split into two separate ceremonies � ...

, the awards are presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and are thus commonly referred to as the BAFTA Games Awards.

Czech Game of the Year Awards

The Czech Game of the Year Awards are annual awards that recognize accomplishments in video game development.

D.I.C.E. Awards

The D.I.C.E. Awards are awarded by the

Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...

(AIAS), a non-profit organization of industry professionals. The awards were previously known as the Interactive Achievement Awards until 2013.

Electronic Gaming Awards (formerly Arcade Awards)

The Arcade Awards, also known as the

Arkie Awards An electronic game is a game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as pro ...

, was one of the first video game awards, dating back to the

golden age of arcade video games The golden age of arcade video games was the period of rapid growth, technological development and cultural influence of arcade video games, from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The period began with the release of ''Space Invaders'' in 1978, ...

and lasting up until the

video game crash of 1983 The video game crash of 1983 (known as the Atari shock in Japan) was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985, primarily in the United States. The crash was attributed to several factors, including ma ...

. It was held since 1980 (for games released in 1979 and earlier) and were announced annually by ''

Electronic Games An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...

'' magazine since 1981, covering several platform categories. Following the magazine's revival in 1992, it published the Electronic Gaming Awards in January 1993 for the best video games released in 1992. The 1992 and 1993 issues asked their readers to vote for the game of the year.

''Famitsu'' Awards

The Grand Prize winners of the annual ''Famitsu'' Awards, voted by ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' magazine's readers. An annual award ceremony has been held since 2005. Prior to 2005, the results were published in the magazine's annual "Best Hit Game Awards" feature since early 1987 (for games released in 1986).

The Game Awards

Geoff Keighley Geoff Keighley () is a Canadian video game journalist and television presenter. He was most known for hosting the video game show '' GameTrailers TV'', and for co-hosting the now-defunct '' G4tv.com''. Keighley is also a freelance writer whose ...

, producer and host of the

Spike Video Game Awards The Spike Video Game Awards (in short VGAs, known as the VGX for the final show) was an annual award show hosted by American television network Spike from 2003 to 2013 that recognized the best computer and video games of the year. Produced by ...

, created

The Game Awards The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring achievements in the video game industry. Established in 2014, the shows are produced and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley, who worked on its predecessor, the Spike Video Game Awards ...

in 2014. The winners are determined by a blended vote between the voting jury (90%) and public fan voting (10%); the jury panel consists of members from 96 global media outlets.

Game Developers Choice Awards

The

Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year The Game Developers Choice Award for the Game of the Year, also known as GDCA Game of the Year is the main video game award presented at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers. The co ...

is announced during the

Game Developers Choice Awards The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were ...

at the

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutori ...

(GDC), the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers.

Golden Joystick Awards

The

Golden Joystick Awards The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be vote ...

is the second oldest gaming award ceremony and is the longest-running video game award. The inaugural ceremony took place in 1984 in London's

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Ke ...

Japan Game Awards (formerly CESA Awards)

The winners of the Grand Award annually given by the

Japan Game Awards The Japan Game Awards is the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's awards ceremony, which was created in 1996 as the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, CESA Awards. While it repres ...

, formerly known as the CESA Awards, since 1996. There are some years where two games shared the Grand Award.

New York Game Awards

The

New York Videogame Critics Circle The New York Game Awards is an annual award show honoring video games by nonprofit New York Videogame Critics Circle (NYVGCC). The first awards were held in 2012, honoring previous year's contributions to the video game industry and showcases ...

hosts an annual award show that recognizes the best contributions to the video game industry from the previous year.

Spike Video Game Awards

The winners of the

, hosted by Spike between 2003 and 2013, awarded the Game of the Year using an advisory council featuring over 20 journalists from media outlets. The show's title was changed to VGX in 2013 before Spike TV dropped the show entirely. Host and producer

created

in 2014.

SXSW Gaming Awards

The winners of the SXSW Gaming Awards are judged by the SXSW Gaming Advisory Board, which is composed of over 40 industry members.

VSDA Awards

The

Video Software Dealers Association The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) is the not-for-profit international trade association dedicated to advancing the interests of the $32 billion home entertainment industry. The Mission of EMA is to promote, to protect, and to p ...

's VSDA Awards for home entertainment handed out awards for the best

s of the year until 2001.

Publications and media

''Ars Technica''

''Destructoid''

''Easy Allies'' (formerly ''GameTrailers'')

''Edge''

''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'')

''Empire''

''Entertainment Weekly''

''Eurogamer''

''Game Informer''

During their earlier years of publication they would give awards for the best game on each console available at the time, occasionally giving an award to the overall best game of the year. In 2017, they retroactively awarded a GOTY award for each past year that did not have an overall best game.

''GameSpot''

''GamesRadar+''

''Gamest''

''Giant Bomb''

''Hardcore Gamer''

''IGN''

''Polygon''

''Time''

''USgamer''

''Yahoo!''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Game Of The Year Video game awards Video game culture Video game lists by reception or rating Game of the Year awards