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Astro Bot won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024, but the result drew visible disagreement online. Some observers questioned whether it deserved to beat the other nominees; others objected to its PlayStation-branded character references. That reaction was real, but the sources available do not show how many players shared it.
What did Astro Bot win at The Game Awards 2024?
The Game Awards’ official 2024 rewind names Astro Bot as Game of the Year and Team Asobi/SIE as its developers and publisher. The game also won Best Game Direction, Best Action/Adventure, and Best Family. Epic Games Store’s December 13, 2024 recap likewise reports four awards in total.
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| 1 |
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Sackboy: A Big Adventure – PlayStation 5 | $31.96 | Buy on Amazon |
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DOG MAN: Misson Impawsible - PlayStation 5 | $23.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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Star Wars Outlaws - Limited Edition (Amazon Exclusive), PlayStation 5 | $35.00 | Buy on Amazon |
Astro Bot is a PlayStation 5 3D platformer developed by Team Asobi. Forbes reported its worldwide release date as September 6, 2024. Its GOTY win came against five other nominees: Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Why were some people mad that Astro Bot won?
They thought another nominee deserved the award
The nominees were distinct games, and their fans did not necessarily share the same idea of what should define the year’s best game. Forbes’ December 13, 2024 coverage describes surprise, disappointment, anger, memes, and people defending the result. That makes the disagreement visible, but it does not establish one objectively correct winner—or provide a neutral, detailed comparison of every nominee.
#1 Best Overall
- Face thrilling, unpredictable challenges as you explore distinctive hand-crafted lands through deeply immersive and expressive controls.
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Some critics saw the PlayStation references as corporate
EL PAÍS reported a more specific objection: some observers felt that Astro Bot leaned too heavily on Sony characters and PlayStation imagery, including its PlayStation-shaped spacecraft, and called that approach excessively corporate. The same coverage noted that a platformer winning was surprising, given how rarely the genre reaches the same level of visibility with audiences and critics. Those are reported criticisms, not a complete explanation for every unhappy reaction.
Disagreement with the result is not the same as calling the game bad
Forbes described the game as positively received by critics while also covering arguments about which nominee should have taken the top prize. A person can think Astro Bot is well made and still prefer another nominee for Game of the Year. An award records the outcome of its process; it cannot settle every player’s preference.
Rank #2
- 50 Exciting Levels: Explore iconic locations from the Dog Man universe, including the City Hall, Giant Marshmallow Factory, and the Police Station. Each location offers platforming and puzzle-solving challenges.
- Teamwork: Switch between Dog Man and his Supa Buddies, each with their own special abilities, to overcome obstacles and defeat bosses. o Dog Man: Digs underground and glides through the air. o Li’l Petey: Hacks gadgets and fits into small spaces. o 80-HD: Pushes heavy objects and jumps long distances.
- Fun Gadgets: Unlock new gadgets and abilities as you progress, like a grappling hook, rocket boots and power gloves to navigate through the levels. Puzzles and Bosses: Use your brain to solve puzzles and defeat unique bosses. Each boss fight requires clever use of your team’s abilities.
- Humor and Action: Enjoy funny dialogue, amusing interactions, and non-stop action that keeps you engaged in Dog Man’s world. Rewards and Collectibles: Revisit levels with new gadgets to find secret areas, and rescue the missing Comic Club members.
- Art Style: Great animations inspired by the books, with comic-style sound effects that add a fun, cartoonish touch to the action.
Does the backlash show that most players were angry?
No reliable statistic in the cited coverage measures what share of players were angry. Forbes reported both upset reactions and people defending the win, and offered the view that intense investment in game communities and social-media amplification of strong opinions can make a dispute feel polarized. That is a journalist’s analysis, not a survey finding. Visible posts and arguments show disagreement exists; by themselves, they do not tell us how representative it is.
Nor does the result establish a unanimous verdict from critics or players. The award went to Astro Bot; the sources cited here do not provide a named juror’s explanation of the vote or evidence that everyone agreed with it.
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Rank #3
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What the award can—and cannot—tell you
- It can tell you the result: Astro Bot won Game of the Year and three additional categories at The Game Awards 2024.
- It can put the debate in context: the other nominees included games across different genres and experiences, so disagreement may reflect taste as well as judgments about the award.
- It cannot prove universal agreement: the win does not mean every player thinks Astro Bot is the best game for them.
- It cannot quantify the backlash: the available reports document reactions but do not measure how many people were angry.
So the accurate version is straightforward: Astro Bot won, and some people objected—both to the choice of winner and, in some cases, to its PlayStation callbacks. The reported dispute does not show that players as a whole were mad, nor does the award end the argument over which nominee someone personally considers the year’s best.
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