Geoff Keighley, the all-knowing, announced the nominees for "Game of the Year" to be crowned at the upcoming Game Awards (TGA) yesterday afternoon.

As one might expect, many of the nominated titles are video games that are both high profile and have been critical and commercial darlings. There is also Shadow of the Erdtree, the DLC for 2022's Elden Ring.

GAME OF THE YEAR nominees at #TheGameAwards on 12.12:

🔹ASTRO BOT
🔹Balatro
🔹Black Myth: Wukong
🔹Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
🔹Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
🔹Metapahor: ReFantazio

🗳️ Vote Now: https://t.co/ExP93r9hmS pic.twitter.com/AU7pToEteo

— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) November 18, 2024

For the first time in The Game Awards history, an expansion of a preexisting game is eligible for "Game of the Year" (GOTY), due to the award show tweaking its eligibility criteria to allow for DLC, remakes, remasters and expansions to compete for GOTY and any other award. This seems like a clear tweak to make two of 2024's most prominent gaming experiences, Shadow of the Erdtree and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, eligible for awards at this year's show.

The nomination of Shadow of the Erdtree has split opinions among gamers online. On the one hand, FromSoftware's Elden Ring DLC is undeniably packed with content that more than meets the demand of its $40 price, based on its glowing reviews. According to HowLongToBeat, an average playthrough of the DLC can average 25-50 hours, depending on how thorough players wish to be in exploring The Land of Shadow. For comparison, Sony's platforming darling Astro Bot contains a reported 10-20 hours of content at a $60 price point.

On the other hand, Shadow of the Erdtree is not an original IP nor does it make significant innovations on Elden Ring, which also already won GOTY in 2022.

Many felt that "more Elden Ring" shouldn't be eligible for what's become one of the most prestigious awards in video games, particularly when the game had already received its flowers.

Thus, the semantics issue caused by The Game Awards tweaking its eligibility criteria has provoked a spirited debate online. It will ultimately be up for players to decide whether Shadow of the Erdtree as a DLC was the best "game" of the year, as fans vote on the award.