With the awards season well underway, all the best titles of the year are battling it out to be crowned Game of the Year, but there is an interesting discussion to be had about eligibility and voter reviews. More specifically, Phantom Blade Zero has found itself in a strange position at the Golden Joystick Awards, where it was only eligible for nominations through an exception that allows games released in the voting window to be counted, meaning that despite most of the perception coming from early previews, it could have potentially taken home GOTY.
Were that to happen, then it would have raised many eyebrows, as the award would have effectively gone to a game that virtually none of the voters could have played to completion before making their decision. In the end, Phantom Blade Zero lost out to Resident Evil Requiem, but the fact that a game that most voters probably only saw a portion of almost took home one of the biggest awards in the video games industry is certainly peculiar.
Phantom Blade Zero’s Early Reviews Nearly Won It GOTY
Game of the year debates have always been contentious topics in the gaming world, as many people consider certain games more deserving than others, yet there are very few situations where technicalities are actually part of the conversation. At the Golden Joystick Awards, some players felt that a couple of games were snubbed, but I would argue that a lot of the winners made perfect sense in their category, especially for GOTY, which ultimately went to Resident Evil Requiem.
Guess the games from the emojis.
However, there was another inclusion on the list that felt more out of place than the others, that being Phantom Blade Zero. The game has been a massive success and has been received incredibly well, so to consider it a potential frontrunner for game of the year wasn’t out of the question, but its proximity to the Joysticks makes its inclusion on the list with so many other incredible games stick out like a sore thumb.
The award would have effectively gone to a game that virtually none of the voters could have played to completion before making their decision
That’s because the voting period for GOTY actually concluded just a day later, and no matter how good of a gamer you are, there is no way you could have gotten through the entire game in a single 24-hour window. Yet the voting was still allowed due to an exception to the rules which lets review copies qualify for the award, so anyone choosing Phantom Blade Zero was basing their vote on pre-release gameplay or on the short amount of time they got to experience before the balots were locked.
Now the dust has settled a bit, and I do think Phantom Blade Zero deserved to be in contention for GOTY, yet it does come off as rather odd to place it in the same box as games released over six months ago, which have since been played and picked apart by millions of players, rather than a handful of reviewers and eager early buyers. Additionally, I would even go so far as to say that allowing it into the running was actually a disservice to the game, because I imagine that a lot of players who have now had over two weeks to play it would have probably voted for it if they were given the chance, but it was too early for them to decide in just a single gameplay session.
Eligibility Matters for Game Awards
When you look at any kind of awards show or event, it is almost always riddled with some kind of controversy regarding rigging, eligibility, or favoritism one way or another. The showrunners need to outline clearly what games are allowed in which window, but because of the different event times and the number of shows across the calendar year, it’s almost impossible for a 2026 GOTY event to include every game released in the previous 12 months, outside of the Game Awards, which in itself misses out on the final few weeks of December.
I have no problem with various publications and events each putting forward their own lists and voting criteria, yet when you look at the bigger picture, it becomes apparent that these staggered events make it far harder to paint a picture of the best games in a yearin retrospect. Take the 2026 Golden Joysticks, for instance, which included games released from early November 2025 until the following November. That window is absolutely fine, yet it obviously excludes major candidates, like Ocarina of Time and Grand Theft Auto 6, so when you look back and see what game won which category, you may be a little confused to see certain games missing from the list.
That’s why I do believe the Game Awards is the real measure of which game the industry considers the best, as it gives almost every game released that year the chance to spread its legs and show itself off, rather than rushing developers to squeeze into a specific window misaligned from the calendar year. Again, this small situation was far from Phantom Blade Zero’s or even the Golden Joystick’s fault, but I do think it will make future developers and event hosts think more carefully about their qualifications and criteria for such prestigious awards as Game of the Year.
Phantom Blade Zero
9/10
- Released
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October 29, 2026
- Developer(s)
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S-Game
- Publisher(s)
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S-Game
