Baldurs Gate 3 broke the standard to the point that other companies said “don’t expect this to be the new standard.”

Flute guy is truly Legendary. He deserved his own award for performance

I think it's also extremely important to note that this years 'player voice' award also went to baldurs gate 3

We need Matpat to announce GOTY next year. Matpat criticizing the jokes is a whole new level of irony.

Let's be honest, Flute guy is the best part of the Game Awards

Game Theory Request: Comparison between Indie and AAA games. One is more expensive but tends to be longer and more likely to be talked about, whilst the other is cheaper, and more likely to touch on original/controversial stories, and has very passionate developers that are less money-greedy

i was shocked matpat dismissed alan wake 2 but that might be cuz he hasnt tried it yet. I feel like if he does play it, we would get alot of theories on it and honestly i would love that

I have played many RPG games and I never played one like BG3. It felt like you had so many options and had so much freedom. You were not bound to follow a certain pathz but instead could really play the game how you wanted. And often rewards players for thinking creatively.

Surprised you didn't mention how the Baldur Gate 3 Devs were only able to speak for 30 seconds while speaking emotionally about their deceased friend who worked on the game. They were rushed off stage and were looked over- which was complete injustice.

Matpat criticizing the jokes is a whole new level of irony😭😂

6:44 "The Game Awards actually prefer themselves action" There's defintely a sample bias here, though: most games that get made nowadays are action-based. That saddens my turn-based heart, which is why it made me very happy (among other reasons) that Baldur's Gate 3 was the GOTY.

Thank you, Matpat for everything.

I already don’t take the Game Awards seriously because they told winners that needed a translator for their speech to “please wrap it up”💀

saying BG3 has 60 hours playtime is insane. That wont even get you out of the 2nd act

Flute Guy carries the show honestly. Last year he went NUTS for Xenoblade, so proud to be a Xenoblade rep.

I still think pizza tower should’ve won best indie title even if the game is popular… it makes you wonder if that decision was designed To draw attention to more obscure indie games which makes sense

We need Matpat to announce GOTY next year

The fact that the Game Awards still almost completely ignore indie titles is *criminal*

Another aspect to consider is that old games always had a father figure type mentor to the protagonist. Now with games like spiderman 2, red dead, last of us etc. The mentor is the protagonist. You still have the wise one and the protégé a lot of times, we've more switched the playable character

Keplerians Universe Theory when? That's the one thing I have been waiting for, for years! But If the 9 Ice Scream, 3 Evil Nun and 2 Mr Meat games are too big of a challange, I totally get that.

Following that list of key take aways and demographics of the jury, why are roguelites and roguelikes very often absent or underrepresented during the game of awards? Many of them have darker more mature stories, are very action oriented, so on an so forth. They also have the added benefit of you being able to complete a full run in around half an hour to an hour or so.

Flute guy played his heart out, but the score this year didn’t give him nearly as much to work with compared to last year and XC3 leaning so heavily on the flute

Baldurs gate 3 really is a prime example of going way above and beyond. It blew away do many expectations. I love how the developers also keep adding new stuff and fixing things to make the overall gameplay more enjoyable too.

4:56 you should’ve done “Keep you looking fly, while in the sky.”

Wait… MatPat isn’t into Alan Wake?! Actually surprised by that

I do think games should be judged on how much you enjoy it rather than how respectable and mature it is

Indie games are always done dirty at these award shows too. ;w; Pizza tower is absolutely at the top of my list for game of the year no contest.

Matt, you gotta explore the remedy studios combined universes. Please! Dont dismiss Alan wake 2 yet

Well now I want to see the results if they made the public votes 100% instead of just 10%. See if anything changed

Matpat should just host his own game awards

Matpat, you NEED to play the Remedy universe of games (both Alan Wakes and Control). The amount of deep lore and complex storytelling packed into them is exactly what you look for in games. Also pretty please because I love those games 🥺

I wonder what could go wrong with company ceos selecting who gets 90% of the award votes.

Hearing Mat pat say Alan wake sure when i figured itd be the game he would like the most this year was a shock 😂

Larian studio deserves all the praise, it's literally one of the best games I've played and the community support is crazy, feels like they really understand their gamers, hopefully others will learn from them

How to win The Game Awards Matpat - lists all the traits of Alan Wake 2 Also Matpat - behaves as if Alan Wake 2 shouldn't have even been nominated

I’ll do one push up for who else misses MatPat

Matt didn't just throw shade on Alan Wake II, it's literally the kind of game you would make theories on here.

I have never seen a bigger plot twist and felt as huge of a betrayal as when MatPat completed dismissed Alan Wake Edit: the fact that Alan Wake was announced to be coming to Dead by Daylight a few hours before MatPat posted his retirement announcement feels like some sort of ill omen (yes I am still crying)

I wonder when totk timeline placement will come. I honestly love matpats idea where he suggests that it comes out after hyrule warriors. That would make sense of why the flashbacks are similar to oot and why the map looks pretty different from everything else..

Right, Spider-Man 2 was supposed to be Game of the Year

Matt dismissing Alan Wake II as “meh” was honestly a slap in the face. Especially since I would expect him to love that kind of game.

Let's be honest, Mat really glosses over the quality of the games.

I feel that one part that makes the games a thing as well, and which was a real selection criterium for me: the ability to AFK or pause games. The only non-pausable games like Valheim I play are typically persistent worlds where logging off and logging back on means nothing of value is list. BG3 was great for having pause. Valheim is great for being able to just... go afk without danger. Heck, that for me is part of the timelessness of like Minecraft, or Zelda: can always just... go away and do some adulting while it runs.

Baldurs gate definitely isn’t officially only about 60 hours of gameplay…. I’m pretty sure it was 90 at minimum

Not "sure" to Alan Wake 2, Alan Wake 2 is AMAZING, it would have won if Baldurs wasnt there

I think baldur's gate deserved game of the year because of its great writing, replay ability, and openess to player creativity. Totk is my runner up for a lot of the same reasons, but the story isn't quite as deep or reactive, but it's gameplay is satisfying just playing without a goal. Spiderman 2 was another of my favorite games this year because of how satisfying the game play was while the story was like being in a movie, less replayability than the other 2 though.

15:07 I mean, BOTW/TOTK Link is 17 when the calamity happens, so 117 when he reawakens, and assuming that 5 years have passed between the ending of BOTW and the beginning of TOTK, he would be 122 when he awakens on Great Sky Island. Therefore, I do not think he classifies as a male in his 30s.

My own personal GOTY was Jedi Survivor and im sad Cameron lost to Neil but I think he deserved it, Asterion was such a fun character and the acting was really well done.

On next year's VGA's, MatPat should be in it as one of the celebrity guests.

2:20 Matpat, what do you mean "Oh, Alan Wake, sure >.>" That game has more lore than a single theorist can handle.

As one of the many many ripples you've impacted. Thank you for the 13 years of mind expansion, the laughs, and the brain tickling theorys. I can't wait to see the gifts and treasures you bring from your new adventures when we get matpat cameos. Thank you

Goodbye Mat 😢 You will be missed ❤

Can we point out how his “criteria” of GOTY just described Alan Wake 2 in its entirety, yet he disrespected it at the start as if it was useless.

Pretty shocking MatPat that the Remedyverse (Alan Wake, Control, etc..) is not up your alley. Alan wake 2 genuinely was phenomenal. And FULL of a very mind twisting story. You should really look into them. But also, i think this theory is a little weird. While those statistic may currently be more likely, gaming continue to evolve like every other medium. Experiences are changing. So i wouldnt be surprised to see those changing over the next few years. Cause i genuinely want the medium to continue providing unique experiences, more unique protagonists of all genders, cultures, etc (Sagas actress in Alan Wake 2 got nominated for a reason), and just more exploration of what interactive media can do and or achieve. Considering that Kojima/Jordan Peele team up, im thinking we have a lot of exciting stuff coming.

That dissmissal towards AW2 was brutal and saddening. I genuinely thing you'd enjoy the Remedy Verses story. IDK if that was just something the writers inserted into the script, or if you included that part yourself, but I think you should give the games a shot(at least AW1, Control, and AW2, but you should definitely play Quantum Break as well).

Another point, not just an established IP, but a longstanding and easily recognized one. Being in the 30 yr old parent category I don't stay up to date with lesser known IPs or gaming news, so this video was the first I've even heard of Alan Wake. The first one apparently came out in 2010, so I would've been a teenager but I don't remember it at all. The only one on this list I've played this year is Spiderman 2, (it would've been Balders Gate 3 if I owned it).

Fully supportive of the tidal wave of comments about Matt dismissing Alan Wake 2. If it wasn't for the sheer depth and scale of BG3, it would have been my choice for game of the year

Gotta say it kinda makes me chuckle that Matpat just brushes off Alan Wake 2 when the game (and the whole Remedy Connected Universe for that matter) could fuel GameTheory episodes for years

Well your checklist does not fit with this year's winner all that well: - Single Player yes (with co-op option) - Action game: Nope - 3rd person camera: Nope - Mature story: Yes - Male Lead: No lead because the character is customizable...and the majority play female characters - Existing IP/Feels familiar: sort of; BG is an existing IP but has been dormant for 23 years; familiarity in gameplay comes mostly from Divinity Original Sin 2 but that's a different IP - Release in Spring: Nope, August is not in spring. Out of your 7 points That's 4 no, 2 yes and 1 sort of.

When overwatch won it was a huge technical error where they were supposed to show the more popular, successful, and way better team based shooter, Team Fortress 2.

I fear the day MatPat runs out of theories

Matpat really blew the merchandising load in the beginning in this one, 7 minutes in is when the video actually starts.

Spider Man 2 should’ve at least got one award! 😭😭 It got nominated for 7 of them and didn’t get a single one 😭

Mat really just called BG3 a 60 hour action game.

Oh that "Alan Wake 2. Sure." was so not what I expected! The Finnish media has been hyping this up and Poets of the Fall's social media has been full of the Old Gods of Asgard hype. It appears we are in different bubbles here 😁

Bro I don't care about game awards, if I love a game I'm not going to stop playing because my favourite wasn't nominated

Years I've been waiting for Matt pat to even mention Alan wake, let alone do a video on it, adhe glosses right over it. Christ mattpatt

Games with deep stories and environmental storytelling tend to do well. Of course story driven games tend to be 3rd person so the character you are playing as can be seen being part of the story.

Did not expect there to be shade on Alan Wake 2, the Remedyverse is stupidly heavy with lore and connections, which even extends into the band Poets of the Fall's lore with their music catalogue.

Blimey! This animated masterpiece, right, is like a bloomin' polymorphic spectacle of superlative ontological construction, where the resplendent cadences of psychoacoustic brilliance, the proper intricate chiaroscuric nuances of polymodal shading, and the avant-garde paradigmatic encapsulations, I tell you, coalesce into an unprecedented synesthetic apotheosis, utterly transgressing the quotidian precincts of artistic expression. Oh, bloody 'ell! Within the vast domain of acoustic ontologies, this opulent creation orchestrates a jolly harmonious convergence of psychoacoustic stimuli, each bloomin' bit constituting a microcosm of intricately instantiated fractal design. The auditory panorama, reminiscent of a meticulously crafted metamodernist sonnet, unfolds with a sublimely exquisite precision, transmogrifying every ephemeral moment into an immersive psychoacoustic odyssey, inviting the audience to traverse the ethereal realms of unparalleled sonic epiphany. Oh, blimey, it's a proper sonic journey, innit? The chromaticity, orchestrated with an unparalleled phenomenological finesse, assumes the mantle of a visual lexicon's bloomin' magnum opus. Each topographical contour, gradient, and chromatic nuance constitutes an effulgent emanation of artistic virtuosity, giving rise to a visual tapestry that pulsates with vitality, transcending the mere boundaries of visual representation. The interplay of luminosity and obscurity, redolent of chiaroscuric mastery, imbues each frame with a hyper-dimensional vivacity that defies the customary constraints of traditional animated depictions. Cor blimey, it's a right proper feast for the eyes! Shifting the focus to the animation modality, it transgresses the bleedin' pedestrian paradigms, establishing an unequivocal phenomenological lexicon that stands as a paragon of creative singularity. The anthropomorphic entities, akin to marionettes in this hyperbolic visual ballet, pirouette with a fluidity so innate that it seems to emulate the very quintessence of sentience itself. This animation modality metamorphoses into a rather idiosyncratic dialect of ontological expression, a bleedin' lingua franca of emotional and narrative eloquence that transcends the limits of conventional verbal apprehension. Blimey, it's like Shakespeare meets the digital age, ain't it? In summation, this animated magnum opus transcends the semblance of a mere video; it metamorphoses into a bloomin' odyssey, an immersive pilgrimage into the boundless frontiers of ontological storytelling. Here, every element, from the resplendent psychoacoustic soundscape to the intricately instantiated polymodal chromaticity to the avant-garde animation modality, converges in a symphony of ontological zenith, creating an unparalleled epic of perceptual and phenomenological transcendence. It's bloody brilliant, mate!

Mario Wonder was the odd one out as it did have a mature story, had a very cartoony look, was both single player AND multiplayer, and had both male and female main characters.

Action-action, so much action it needed it's own genre to let you know just how much action it has.

So basically the jury was just biased towards games that they personally prefer, If the jury was replaced then we'd see more games with different genres and themes in the nomination and not the old cookie cutter one's, oh I'd love to see that happen

Even if mario didn't win, you gotta admit that wonder saved or at least refreshed the series

Now I know why a certain game where you are supposed to look for your son, but end up hunting for adhesive didn't win the Goty the year it was released

This dude dissed alan wake II no way even though its one of the most mind bending game universes (Alan Wake and Control are connected).

“Alan wake, sure” as if it wasn’t better than every game there except Legend of Zelda and BG3 😂

Hi, i love your videos and i have something interesting to say: The Amazing digital circus. It would be a nice theory tho because there are some fishi things going on in there. I wont spoil but the only thing you need to do is write Amazing digital circus and youll get a lot of videos. One of them is longer than the other ones. Im sure youll find it matpat.😅

Is “A Little Theorizing” gonna be the new intro song in the future

okay that settles it, Matthew Patthew and team need to look into Alan Wake 2, and the Remedyverse in general

Mat I cant believe you just dismissed Alan Wake 2 like that! It deserved its spot in goty contention and I personally found it was my goty. As others have said , you'd probably love the game, as well as the remedy universe

Or, going the same comment, some issues that I have with this formula. 1: Action adventure being extremely broad to include a linear story game like the last of us, an open world like breath of the wild, a Weird outlier like It Takes Two, Etc. 2: Male Bias: I have to wonder how much of that is an actual goal and how much of that is just the vast majority of game protagonists being either male, or a gender neutral "make your own character" choice. The other categories make sense, though can't wait to see the big twist.

I haven't watched any of this video yet, but I've already known for a while that the game awards are rigged to high heaven. Pretty much every award thing is.

What is with the hate on Alan Wake 2? Matpat at 2:20 singles it out as if it isnt supposed to be there with the other nominees. AW2 is fantastic and my GOTY and it deserved its awards.

"Games Journalists are professional and know about games." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I hope one of these days, Matpat will do a theory on the underrated gems of the PS2, Dark Cloud 1 and 2 (or Dark Chronicle in Japan)

Idk if it’s game theory or film theory, but I think you should look into the EVO smp and the watchers. It’s Minecraft and spans across multiple channels and multiple series. It’s all about poetry, the meta-ness of audience and content creators, and giant unknown all powerful deities

"Alan Wake 2. SURE" ?! 😢 MatPat....The pain in my chest. I have so much respect for Matt & the team that I'm willing to process my own hurt feelings offline (as a complete stranger on the internet) if we can just have a conversation about this. But seriously, I'm *genuinely* curious about this reaction.

As a Pizza Tower fan; I absolutely agree.

>The Game Awards is just corporate circklejerking I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.

Hey MattPatt: unrelated to this video but in FNAF help wanted 2, it seems like the puppet isn't inside of lefty yet. Could be wrong but you should look into it!

Honestly, I’m so happy for BG3, Larian and Neil. They’re utterly incredible and deserve all they’ve got.

I think the game awards need a cozy game category,there are so many coming out each year and they don‘t really fit in any of the other categories

props for having a commander keen screen shot

I love seeing my favorite mech series getting love, It was over 10 years since the last armored core and its great that its back.

Flute guy *BETTER* be in next year's show

The male vs female protagonist bit really made me want a theory about games aimed at girls. Women like gaming just as much as men but most games are aimed at males and if women say they like games they're often called attention seekers, only playing to impress men, not playing 'real games' etc

When the self promo ad is 3 min 💀

The amount of ads here while talking about the game awards is very meta 😂

Speaking of alan wake, Matt should do a video on the Remedyverse.