The Game Awards Needs to Split the Best RPG Category, and Players Agree
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
An analysis of why The Game Awards struggles with the Best RPG category, examining how fundamentally different design philosophies like linear narrative games and player-driven sandboxes shouldn't compete for the same trophy.
Every time The Game Awards drops its annual list of nominees, the community immediately starts debating the snubs, the surprises, and the outright head-scratchers. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the Best RPG category, which continues to lump fundamentally different design philosophies into a single race. As Paulo Kawanishi pointed out over at Polygon, comparing games like the tightly scripted, turn-based journey of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 with open-ended, player-driven sandboxes like Obsidian's Avowed or The Outer Worlds 2 highlights a major identity crisis. While both styles proudly wear the RPG badge, they offer entirely different experiences.
The root of the issue goes back to the genre's tabletop roots and the sheer explosion of sub-genres since then. On one side, you have games acting as interactive cinematic novels where you follow a pre-determined protagonist through a fixed narrative arc. On the other side, you have titles that hand you complete autonomy over character creation, moral choices, and branching storylines. Squishing these distinct experiences into one category forces judges and fans to apples-to-oranges comparisons, often leaving massive, culturally defining titles fighting an uphill battle against completely different styles of gameplay.
For a modern gaming audience that treats these digital worlds as primary social and entertainment hubs, categorization matters because it sets industry standards and shines a light on where developers should push next. Just like film and music awards split their categories to honor different styles of storytelling, award shows need to recognize that an action-heavy character builder and a narrative-driven tactical game are speaking entirely different languages. Until the categories evolve alongside the medium, the Best RPG race will remain the most contentious conversation of award season.
Tags: The Game Awards, RPG, Gaming Culture, Game Design, Polygon
Original article: Polygon