Community MetaCouncil's PC Games of the Year Awards 2020

[Wok]

Welcome to the third PC Gaming MetaCouncil GOTY (Games of the Year) awards! The main award focuses on PC games which we deem GOTY worthy. This year, we will also vote for the best ongoing game, the best Early Access game, the best VR game, and the most disappointing game.

Previous Year's Results: Community - MetaCouncil's PC Games of the Year Awards 2019 | Results

To cast your ballot, read the rules first, reply to this thread to see the link to the Frama form below, and fill in the form.

You need to reply to this thread in order to see this content.

The categories for voting are:

• Game of the Year 2020 Award (main award)
• Ongoing Game of the Year (optional)
• Early Access of the Year (optional)
• VR Game of the Year (optional)
• Turd of the Year (optional)

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Rules specific to the main award:

• Up to 5 choices can be submitted (ranked voting without point):
  • 5th Choice
  • 4th Choice
  • 3rd Choice
  • 2nd Choice
  • 1st Choice
• You can submit fewer than 5 games, but you must submit at least 1 game as your 1st choice.
• For the 1st Choice, you have to write a short text to explain why you have chosen it as your GOTY. It could be a sentence.
• Do not submit the same game for several Choices of the main award.

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Eligibility criteria for each category:

• GOTY 2020 Award:
  • Any game fully released on PC in 2020 is eligible.
  • This includes remakes and remasters, provided that there is a new executable.
  • Episodic content is eligible if the last episode was released in 2020.
  • As MetaCouncil is a predominantly English language website, any game getting an English translation in the correct time frame can be eligible.
  • As to be clear, you can choose VR games for the GOTY category.
  • You can submit games from any PC store front (Epic, GOG, Origin, Steam, etc.).
• Ongoing Game of the Year
  • Any game fully released prior to 2020 which received content updates in 2020 is eligible.
  • New content can be in the form of patches, DLC or general updates, but not bug fixes.
• Early Access of the Year
  • Any game released into Early Access (or equivalent) on PC in 2020 is eligible.
• VR Game of the Year
  • Any game fully released on PC in 2020 which requires/recommends the use of a VR headset is eligible.
• Turd of the Year
  • Any game fully released on PC in 2020 is eligible. We're looking for the worst games.

Deadline: Sunday 24th January at 00:00 GMT / Saturday 23rd January at 19:00 EST.

 

[Panda Pedinte]

Already casted my voice and I can't wait to see the results.

Thank you for doing the it again this year!

 

[fantomena]

Reply.

 

[MegaApple]

Yay!

 

[Yaska]

So many good games this year.

 

[Le Pertti]

Thank you for doing this! Can't wait to see what everyone votes for.

 

[MJunioR]

Dunno what to put here but I want to vote

 

[Ascheroth]

Thanks for doing this again!


Looking forward to the results!

 

[InquisitorAles]

Happy holidays! I didn't have time to play many games that were released this year, but I'll try to cast a few votes for my favorites.

 

[beep boop]

Only played one of the two 2020 games in my library

 

[Swenhir]

Already voted yesterday, but thanks for doing this!

 

[fearthedawn]

getting registered to vote

 

[Zurick]

I voted

 

[Wibblewozzer]

Better post something so I can get the instructions to post Tell Me Why as turd of the year. Let's go!

 

[Kurt Russell]

 

[FeedMeAStrayCat]

 

[Stevey]

Thanks for doing the thread

 

[lashman]

Better post something so I can get the instructions to post Tell Me Why as turd of the year. Let's go!

 

[Ibuki]

What a shitty year, but at least we had some good games!

 

[Parsnip]

Good thing that the deadline extends all the way to January so I'll have the time to actually play Hades.
Aside from that, didn't play a ton of 2020 games, I'll probably get a top 5 together though.

 

[FeedMeAStrayCat]

Stop whatever it is you're doing right now, Parsnip . Playing a game, spending time with family, whatever. Drop them hooligans. You play Hades and you play it NOW.

 

[LEANIJA]

this is an obligatory reply to vote

 

[Parsnip]

Stop whatever it is you're doing right now, Parsnip . Playing a game, spending time with family, whatever. Drop them hooligans. You play Hades and you play it NOW.

 

[ISee]

Thinking, will edit

 

[TioChuck]

Gimme!

edit: and.... done!

 

[dummmyy]

gonna vote!

 

[Kvik]

That time of the year again, huh. Thanks for organising this as always, Wok !

 

[Prodigy]

Something meaningful

 

[FeedMeAStrayCat]

Votes have been cast, babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

[Joe Spangle]

Replying to vote.

 

[Wok]

We already have 20 votes! :keur:

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Thinking thinking

edit: and done!

 

[Valdien]

Lemme vote!

 

[xxr]

I'm gonna vote for fortnite

 

[Ibuki]

Voted! Thanks for putting this together Wok

 

[Arulan]

• Do not submit the same game for several choices.

Does this mean our VR GOTY can't be our overall GOTY as well?

Never mind. I just re-read it.

 

[Wok]

Does this mean our VR GOTY can't be our overall GOTY as well?

Never mind. I just re-read it.

The wording can be confusing. I try to use the words "categories" and "awards" for these:

• Game of the Year 2020 Award (main award)
• Ongoing Game of the Year (optional)
• Early Access of the Year (optional)
• VR Game of the Year (optional)
• Turd of the Year (optional)

and the word "choices" for the games chosen for the main award:

• 5th Choice
• 4th Choice
• 3rd Choice
• 2nd Choice
• 1st Choice

The rule which you quoted only exists to prevent people from voting for the same game as two or more choices inside the main award.

It does not prevent you from voting for the same game in two different categories/awards.

• GOTY and Ongoing should not work due to eligibility criteria (fully released in 2020 vs. fully released prior to 2020).
• GOTY and Early Access should not work due to eligibility criteria (fully released in 2020 vs. started EA in 2020), unless EA started and ended in 2020.
• GOTY and VR are compatible.
• GOTY and Turd can technically work, but it does not make much sense unless you have played fewer than 5 games and write your last Choice as Turd.

 

[ISee]

and voted.

 

[Wok]

I did not mention it in the original post, but you can of course send me a message if you want to change your vote before the deadline.

 

[freshVeggie]

Mh, I think I did play at least one game from 2020. So, I'm in!
Thanks for organizing Wok !
Your dedication may not go unnoticed

 

[QFNS]

Great stuff Wok
I need to work on my answers!

 

[texhnolyze]

I don't think I finished enough games this year to vote a top 5. But let's see..

 

[Wok]

Sure, take as much time as needed!

For info, we have 25 voters for now. It is off to a great start.
Based on my experience, most people vote really close to the deadline, which should be less of an issue with this year's system to access the form.

 

[taril360dz]

Obligatory reply to vote

EDIT : voted

 

[gabbo]

replying to vote etc

 

[Xclash]

I will be voting, still have a few games to finish prior to the deadline

 

[Amzin]

So based on the rules, Outer Wilds would not be eligible because it fully released on PC last year but only hit Steam (i.e. me) this year?

 

[Wok]

So based on the rules, Outer Wilds would not be eligible because it fully released on PC last year but only hit Steam (i.e. me) this year?

Maybe some people would disagree about this matter (games which arrive on Steam after a year of exclusivity), but I plan to accept these games.

First, I don't want to dismiss games unless I really have to. In the case of Outer Wilds, the release date of the game which is shown on Steam is its actual release date on Steam, so voters can be legitimately confused and vote for this game without knowing about its previous release on another smaller store.

Second, games with an exclusivity contract are at a handicap during the exclusivity period, because they do not exist at all for most players. So their only chance at getting a good rank among the best games of the year is... after the exclusivity period has ended and they could reach the biggest share of the PC audience.

Overall, I don't expect these games to be an issue: I don't expect them to manage to reach top 5 (even top 10, but feel free to prove me wrong, Meta-members), and their presence in the votes should not dramatically change the final ranking.

 

[Amzin]

Maybe some people would disagree about this matter (games which arrive on Steam after a year of exclusivity), but I plan to accept these games.

First, I don't want to dismiss games unless I really have to. In the case of Outer Wilds, the release date of the game which is shown on Steam is its actual release date on Steam, so voters can be legitimately confused and vote for this game without knowing about its previous release on another smaller store.

Second, games with an exclusivity contract are at a handicap during the exclusivity period, because they do not exist at all for most players. So their only chance at getting a good rank among the best games of the year is... after the exclusivity period has ended and they could reach the biggest share of the PC audience.

Overall, I don't expect these games to be an issue: I don't expect them to manage to reach top 5 (even top 10, but feel free to prove me wrong, Meta-members), and their presence in the votes should not dramatically change the final ranking.

OK, that makes sense. Similarly I doubt they'll necessarily make it to the top (even if they otherwise would) due to that splintering.

 

[Avern]

Replying to vote