'The World Is Just Not Ready for AI in Video Games' — Shroud Accuses The Game Awards of Being 'Rigged' Following Arc Raiders GOTY Snub

Shroud has accused The Game Awards of being “rigged” pursuing its Game of The Year Arc Raiders snub.

The Game Awards confirmed the nominations for 2025 this week, with Sandfall’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 receiving 12 noms — the astir successful the Awards’ history. Embark Studios' Arc Raiders, meanwhile, has conscionable 1 nomination, successful the Best Multiplayer class alongside Battlefield 6, Elden Ring: Nightreign, Peak, and Split Fiction.

Game of the Year

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Donkey Kong Bananza
• Hades 2
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Ahead of the announcement, Canadian Michael ‘Shroud’ Grzesiek, who specializes successful competitory multiplayer first-person shooters, had called connected his fans to ballot for Arc Raiders arsenic Game of the Year 2025 implicit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, saying multiplayer gamers were “the minority.”

Shroud wanted Arc Raiders to triumph Game of the Year 2025. Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images.

Shroud is simply a erstwhile nonrecreational Counter-Strike subordinate who has built an tremendous online assemblage of 6.8 cardinal subscribers connected YouTube and 11.3 cardinal followers connected Twitch. He threw himself into Arc Raiders upon its explosive launch, and successful a caller Twitch watercourse reacted to The Game Awards nominations uncover to suggest that the game’s arguable AI-generated dependable enactment had contributed to it missing retired connected designation for GOTY.

"The satellite is conscionable not acceptable for AI successful video games, not yet,” Shroud said. “They're conscionable not ready. But, hey, astatine slightest they nominated it for something. I genuinely thought they wouldn't nominate it for thing due to the fact that they were frightened to get backlash. But astatine slightest they nominated it for something, truthful that's good.”

Shroud continued: "Once again, different year, different rigged year. That's crazy.”

With the extremity of 2025 successful sight, single-player role-playing crippled Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has emerged arsenic a frontrunner for GOTY. Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive Donkey Kong Bananza is besides up for GOTY, which Shroud surely took contented with.

“Imagine Donkey Kong, too… if Donkey Kong would win, this grant amusement is conscionable chalked,” Shroud said. “Who the f*** is playing Donkey Kong Bananza? Nobody’s playing Donkey Kong Bananza. Nobody. That is insane.”

Admitting Expedition 33 is astir apt going to triumph GOTY, Shroud said helium hoped Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 would look victorious instead. He believed Arc Raiders volition triumph champion Multiplayer, and Battlefield 6 volition triumph champion Action. He expressed disorder that Arc Raiders was not nominated for champion Audio Design, fixed the plaudits it has received successful that area.

Shroud had antecedently claimed that voting successful The Game Awards doesn’t matter. “All the f***ing awards are rigged anyway, who cares?” helium said. “When person you ever seen an grant that’s really legit?”

Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards uses a operation of votes from the games media and influencers arsenic good arsenic nationalist instrumentality voting. The voting assemblage has successful the past had much of an power connected the outcome. Keighley has said he’s considered going each successful connected nationalist voting for The Game Awards, but expressed concerns astir “social engineering.”

The Game Awards ceremonial is acceptable for December 11, 2025 astatine 5pm PT/8pm ET.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].