It is funny how the game journoscum have been picking safe picks since after The Last of Us 2. The game that won the year after Last of Us 2 was It Takes Two which is a very wholesome game about a couple that fixes their marriage for their daughters sake. The year after that was Elden Ring which was the most popular game of the year in 2022. Now this year it's Baldur's Gate 3 which is the most popular RPG to come out in a decade. I think they realize that they blew their load with The Last of Us 2, a game that sold abysmally, and to make sure that their higher ups don't shit can them and replace them with AI they need to pretend to have some imperiality to the games they judge. Don't get me wrong, they would have loved nothing more than to have Alan Wake 2 get all the awards but they can't do that anymore. Then there is of course the controversy with Sweet Baby Inc. and how many in the industry are trying to sweep that under the rug. They couldn't let a game that Sweet Baby Inc. made win game of the year. Would have drawn more unwanted attention to them.