Who votes for the GOTY? The Game Awards judges and how the best games are chosen

The curtain is about to rise on another year of The Game Awards. The gala, organized and hosted by Geoff Keighley, is expected to be a busy one, not only because the awards will be very close in this 2023 edition, but also because interesting announcements are expected, this time without the characteristic “World Premiere” label, which is disappearing forever. As every year, it is worth asking how the voting system works and who chooses the winners. We explain it in the following lines.

The procedure has not changed from previous years. In the preliminary phase, only the specialized jury, composed of more than 100 media with voting rights, including MeriStation, participates. Once the nominees are chosen, everyone has the opportunity to vote, but the value of the public vote is not the same as that of the jury.

According to the official website of The Game Awards, the opinion of the fans counts in the selection of the winners, but the value of their vote is much smaller than that of the jury. Thus, the jury’s decision counts for 90%, compared to 10% for the popular vote. You can vote here.

Why does the jury vote count more than the public vote?

And why not just rely on fan voting? The Game Awards explains it this way: “Creating a 100% fan vote presents several challenges. First, given that some games are exclusive to one platform, a public vote puts single-platform games at an inherent disadvantage over multi-platform titles. In addition, it is important that winners cannot be ‘socially engineered’ in any way. We find that a blended vote is the most credible and authentic way to select winners.” There is, however, a special category for fans to vote for their own GOTY regardless of the grand prize.

The Game Awards will be held on December 7. The nominees for GOTY 2023 are The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur’s Gate 3, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and Alan Wake 2. The answer is coming soon.

All you need to know about GOTY 2023 and The Game Awards gala