When one contestant wins it all, does an award show still serve a purpose? This question has gained popularity after the game “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” swept the 2025 Game of the Year awards (also known as The Game Awards). The game won nine out of 29 separate categories leaving little room for recognition of other standout titles of the year.

“Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” is by no means undeserving of the praise that it received. The game was an indie masterpiece, with well-crafted visuals and a moving soundtrack to back its creative story.

However, when it came time for The Game Awards, one issue occurred: it won almost everything. Every time the next category’s winner was announced, I was left with one question: “How many more times will Clair Obscur win?”

This has not only led to fans questioning The Game Awards voting system that caused this sweep to occur, but also resulted in many gamers mourning the losses of the titles that failed to be acknowledged. 

Games like “Hollow Knight: Silksong”, “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach”, “Donkey Kong Bananza”, “Hades II”, and “Kingdom Come: Deliverance II”, all highly anticipated titles with a large following, went overlooked in many categories as a result of “Clair Obscur”’s overwhelming victory.

“Hollow Knight: Silksong” has especially stood out to fans as being “robbed.” The game is the culmination of years of creative work by Team Cherry poured into one game, and with the popularity of the game’s predecessor, “Hollow Knight”, it’s no wonder that many fans felt let down. People’s expectations were only raised further after “Silksong” won Most Anticipated Game.

The Game Awards’ “About” page states, “We bring together a diverse group of game developers, game players, and notable names from popular culture to celebrate and advance gaming’s position as the most immersive, challenging, and inspiring form of entertainment.”

If their mission statement is, as they say, focused on “diversity,” then allowing for one singular game to take precedence over many others in almost every award category directly contends with their own views.

While it is obvious from the strong public support for the game that “Clair Obscur” deserved to win Game of the Year, does that also mean they should have allowed it to dominate the lesser categories as well?

One proposed solution to this problem, while met with mixed responses, is placing a cap on how many awards a single game can win. This answer, while fixing the problem, has its pros and cons.

Pros

Placing a cap on how many awards a single game could win would allow other games to share the spotlight, while not outright discrediting the intended winners. This would mean that all games would have a fighting chance at winning at least one category.

If this system were to be put in place, then it’s important to consider how exactly it would be best implemented. 

Supporters of this idea have debated the exact number, but many argue that two or three categories should be the maximum for a single game or for a company as a whole, meaning that if a company has more than one game nominated, they can only win two to three times total between all games. However, this option doesn’t come without its potential downsides as well.

Cons
The Game of the Year voting system is democratic, so whether or not something is “unfair” shouldn’t trump the vote of the people. It is also essential to consider that these artificial limits could undermine the merit of the vote, with the second-place contender who won instead having a hollow victory.

Due to the numerous downsides of the plan, some members of the gaming community are calling for a cap to be placed on The Game Awards, but I just can’t agree. However, that doesn’t mean nothing should be done at all. I believe the solution lies somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.

Games shouldn’t be entirely barred from “winning too much” if they truly deserve it, but there should still be a way for smaller games to be recognized. This issue could be resolved by preventing a game’s ability to win other categories if it wins Game of the Year.

While the other parts of the award ceremony are still important, the award that all people wait on the edge of their seats for is Game of the Year. All other categories seem like footnotes in the show compared to it. 

Game of the Year is judged largely on components that make up smaller categories, so if a game has won, the smaller awards could go to other games. 

“Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” deserved its time in the spotlight, but when one game dominates an entire award show, the rest of the year’s contenders risk being overshadowed. By letting the Game of the Year winner take the crown while opening up smaller awards to other deserving titles, The Game Awards could celebrate a more diverse group of games, just like it promises to do.