So, let's take a trip down memory lane to late 2024. The Game Awards had just dropped its final five nominees for the Player's Voice award, and let me tell you, the internet was buzzing. Thirty games had been whittled down to just five, and the casualties were brutal. Popular picks like Stellar Blade, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Silent Hill 2, Palworld, and about eight different live service games all got voted out. Ouch. Even Sonic x Shadow Generations got knocked out early, which spared us another epic showdown between Sonic and Mihoyo fans. But the gacha gods were not to be denied.

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Mihoyo, which has been represented in every Player's Voice award since 2022, managed to get not one but two of its games into the final: Genshin Impact and Zenless Zone Zero. And they were joined by fellow anime gacha game Wuthering Waves. So, yeah, if you're not into gacha, you might have felt a little left out. But don't worry, there were two titles representing the rest of us. The first was Black Myth: Wukong, which was probably the favorite after its Golden Joysticks win the month before. The second was Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, proving that not everyone is against a DLC potentially winning a GOTY award. Though, let's be real, plenty of people were still salty about that.

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Now, realistically, this was a toss-up between Black Myth: Wukong and one of the Mihoyo games. Wukong was definitely in the driver's seat, helped by the fact that there were two Mihoyo games nominated, which could split the Mihoyo faithful. Shadow of the Erdtree had an outside chance, but it was hampered by the "no DLC at The Game Awards" crowd. I remember thinking, "It's more of an open contest than last year anyway," when Baldur's Gate 3 swept up pretty much every award going, including Player's Voice. It was going to be interesting to see whether Mihoyo fans could coordinate effectively enough to take down a behemoth of a fanbase in Black Myth: Wukong. But to be honest, my money was on the monkey.

And guess what? I was right. Black Myth: Wukong took home the Player's Voice award at TGA 2024. The monkey prevailed. But it wasn't a landslide—the gacha communities put up a hell of a fight, and the vote was probably closer than anyone expected. Looking back now in 2026, that moment feels like a turning point. It showed that a single-player action game from a relatively new studio could go toe-to-toe with the massive live-service gacha giants and win. It also highlighted the growing power of Chinese game development on the global stage.

Of course, the debate about DLC and live-service games at The Game Awards hasn't died down. If anything, it's gotten louder. But that 2024 Player's Voice race was a wild ride. It had everything: underdogs, giants, fanbase wars, and a fiery monkey with a spear. And honestly? I wouldn't have had it any other way.

So, what did we learn? That sometimes, the little guy (or the monkey) can win. That fanbases are passionate and sometimes split. And that The Game Awards will always find a way to stir up drama. But hey, that's what makes it fun, right?