Astro Bot, made by Team Asobi, has won Game of the Year at the 2024 Game Awards. It also took home three other awards, Best Family Game, Best Game Direction, and Best Action/Adventure Game. Other games that won multiple awards include Metaphor: ReFantazio, Balatro, which both took home three awards, Black Myth: Wukong, and Helldivers 2, which both took home two awards. In his acceptance speech, Nicolas Doucet, the head of Team Asobi, said, “You know, when I thought about why this game gave people joy and smiles on their faces, it came down to the people every day making the game. It’s the generosity, they put the user first always, never thought about any calculation, it was about the kids especially because we had the huge privilege to be potentially the first game to be the first game in the hands of children, and we know it means very much. So, Team Asobi, from the bottom of our heart, well done and thank you so much” (Doucet, Dec. 12).

Some people were upset with Astro Bot’s win, as they felt there were more deserving games. One of these people is the director of Black Myth: Wukong, which was a fellow Game of the Year nominee, Feng Ji, who posted on the Chinese social media app Weibo about his frustrations with the Game Awards committee, their criteria, and just not winning Game of the Year in general. In a Dexerto article, Ethan Dean states, “The developer revealed he was so confident in the game’s potential success, he had written a Game of the Year acceptance speech two years ago. “It’s normal to be a little angry when you are so confident but not recognized by others,” he explained in reference to his dissatisfaction and the outcry of players in the aftermath of the awards” (Dean, Dec. 15)

Aside from the awards, there were also many new game announcements and trailers for already revealed games. Some of the new game announcements included the next installment in The Witcher series, The Witcher 4, a new co-op Elden Ring game, a new game by the director of Shadow of the Colossus, a new game called Intergalactic by the studio that made The Last of Us, and a sequel to the cult classic game Okami, which many thought would never happen.