PC Gamer named Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain its overall Game of the Year for 2015, while giving The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt its Best Singleplayer award. Both results can stand. But if I have to choose the game whose characters, quests and world made the year matter most to me, it is The Witcher 3.
What PC Gamer actually chose
There is no contradiction in PC Gamer’s 2015 awards: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain won the outlet’s overall Game of the Year, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt won Best Singleplayer. PC Gamer explained that staff voted for multiple games, tallied the votes and agreed on an overall winner, while other categories recognized games they particularly loved. The category award was a distinct honor, not a second name for the top prize. (PC Gamer’s 2015 awards; Best Singleplayer.)
So “my 2015 GOTY” is the right claim: it describes a personal judgment, not a revision of PC Gamer’s record or a universal verdict. Different awards and readers weighed different qualities, and I care most about the ones The Witcher 3 made unforgettable.
Why The Witcher 3 is my Game of the Year
Its quests make the world feel inhabited
The game’s strongest stories do not feel like errands bolted onto a map. They make the landscape, its people and their choices part of the same experience. PC Gamer’s Best Singleplayer coverage singled out the Bloody Baron’s “Family Matters” storyline and praised the writing and moral dilemmas that give the campaign its emotional weight. Andy Kelly put the appeal plainly: “In terms of quests, The Witcher 3 is one of the best RPGs I’ve played.” (PC Gamer.)
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That is the distinction I value. A side quest can be worth pursuing not because it hands out a reward, but because it reveals something about a person or complicates what I thought I knew. When a game can make an optional detour feel as carefully considered as a main-story beat, its world becomes more than a route between objectives.
Characters and consequences stay with me
Geralt’s story matters because it is surrounded by people with their own wants, weaknesses and histories. PC Gamer contributors described being absorbed in the story and world for months, taking on more side quests instead of rushing to finish, and feeling consequences in relationships. Those reactions are personal, not a promise that every player will respond identically, but they describe what the game does especially well: it gives me reasons to care about what happens beyond the next fight.
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Shaun Prescott captured the appeal of the campaign as “diving into a meticulously written fantasy novel,” while stressing that it is “far more than a great story.” (PC Gamer.) That combination—narrative with room to explore, investigate and make choices—is why I remember the campaign as a place I inhabited, not just a sequence I completed.
The open world rewards attention
Game Informer’s 2015 Game of the Year explanation praised the move to an open world for expanding player freedom, while arguing that the story and characters met the high standards set by earlier games. Its case also pointed to depth, polish, activities, compelling side content, writing and surprises beyond the main storyline. (Game Informer’s 2015 awards.)
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That freedom matters to me when it is paired with meaningful details. I do not need every corner of a map to contain a revelation, but I want exploration to feel like a way of finding more of the game’s people and stories. The Witcher 3 makes that kind of wandering central to its appeal.
The fair case for Metal Gear Solid V
PC Gamer’s preference for Metal Gear Solid V was not a dismissal of The Witcher 3. Its Best Singleplayer writing praised the latter’s campaign and narrative while noting that combat could feel imprecise and that its open-world encounter design was not groundbreaking. The same coverage described Metal Gear Solid V as more revolutionary and more fascinating to play, crediting its systems-driven design with the overall win. (PC Gamer’s Best Singleplayer coverage.)
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That is a real difference in priorities. Metal Gear Solid V offers the stronger case if the question is which game makes its systems and moment-to-moment play feel more novel. My choice rests elsewhere: I put more weight on the quality of the writing, the people I meet and the stories I uncover than on mechanical innovation alone. A game can be less precise in combat and still be the one I most want to return to in memory.
PC Gamer’s later reflection recognizes both the original decision and the possibility of a different argument. In 2025, Andy Chalk wrote that Metal Gear Solid V “won on its merits, as determined by the PCG team at the time, and that will always be the best we can do.” He added: “But I’m certain some of us who were around then would argue harder for The Witcher 3 if we did 2015 over.” (PC Gamer’s 2025 retrospective.) The original result remains the original result; reconsidering what mattered most is fair, too.
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- Enhanced Functionality: Packed with handy features, including a 5x9" precision tracking mouse pad and a built-in phone slot for seamless work or video calls. Plus, enjoy laptop support with the integrated device ledge.
- Cool Comfort: Enjoy a stable surface with our lap desk's dual bolster cushion, designed for comfort and airflow, keeping your lap cool during extended use.
- Durable Surface: Work with confidence on our lap desk's solid surface, featuring a blush pink color, ensuring optimal air circulation to prevent your laptop from overheating.
- On-the-Go Convenience: With an integrated handle and lightweight design (2.14 lbs), our lap desk is portable for travel or moving around the house, offering flexibility in any space.
Did The Witcher 3 win Game of the Year in 2015?
It depends on which award you mean. The Game Awards selected The Witcher 3, and Game Informer named it its own 2015 Game of the Year. PC Gamer selected Metal Gear Solid V for its overall prize and The Witcher 3 for Best Singleplayer. GameSpot’s 2015 People’s Choice poll reported that The Witcher 3 received 62% of votes, compared with 9% for Fallout 4; that was the result of that poll, not a count of all players or critics. (GameSpot on The Game Awards; Game Informer; GameSpot’s poll.)
Other recognition reinforces that this is not an isolated preference, but it cannot settle a subjective comparison. CD Projekt said in its 2016 Game of the Year Edition announcement that the game had received over 250 Game of the Year awards and over 800 awards in total. Those are the publisher’s figures, not an independently audited tally. The announcement described an edition containing the base game, both expansions, all DLC and updates, released for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4; some territories and channels called it Complete Edition. (CD Projekt’s 2016 announcement.)
PC Gamer’s own longer view also shows how rankings move. The outlet put The Witcher 3 first on its 2016 Top 100 PC games list; it held that place until 2019, when Divinity: Original Sin 2 displaced it. PC Gamer’s 2025 retrospective says it then ranked sixth on the latest list published that year. These are dated editorial judgments, not permanent standings. After the 2016 placement, game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz said it meant a lot because it showed the team’s work on the game and both expansions had been time well spent. (PC Gamer’s 2016 Top 100 report; 2025 retrospective.)
Why my choice still stands
I understand why someone might choose Metal Gear Solid V: its systems-driven design made play itself the central attraction, and PC Gamer’s staff valued that enough to award it the top spot. I value a different balance. The Witcher 3 brings together memorable characters, carefully written quests, a world worth lingering in and a campaign that gives its side stories room to matter. That is why, among the games of 2015, it remains my Game of the Year.
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