The Game Awards is a great time to reflect on some of the better releases of the previous year. It has become a hyped-up event in the gaming community, as gamers come together to celebrate the achievements of their favorite games and watch some of the exciting trailers shown at The Game Awards.
But some games are always left in the dark, as appears to be the case for Hitman 3 this year. The game was one of the more popular releases of the opening months of 2021, although Hitman 3 has missed out on The Game Award's top prize. The competition for Game of the Year is undeniably stiff, but fans are right to be disappointed about the latest Hitman game being snubbed.
What Are The Game Awards Nominees
The Game Awards 2021 is full of competition for some of the gaming industry's most prestigious awards. Overall, there are 107 different nominees for The Game Awards 2021’s various prizes, with categories ranging from Best Narrative to Best Multiplayer and everything in between, covering all aspects of gaming. But the Game of the Year category has just 6 nominees battling it out for gamings top honor. These games are Resident Evil: Village, It Takes Two, Psychonauts 2, Metroid Dread, Deathloop, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. It would be difficult to argue against the merits of any of these nominees, making it a tough choice for which title gets the top spot.
However, while the merits of these nominees cannot be questioned, some have been quick to point out a few of the more high-profile games that were snubbed for Game of the Year. In particular, the recently released Forza Horizon 5 fell just within the period for nominations to this year’s Game of the Year Awards, yet it has not been nominated for Game of the Year. Additionally, the likes of Monster Hunter Rise and Returnal which were released in March and April respectively have been snubbed despite being met with positive fan and critical reception earlier in the year. It's inevitable that some of the snubs for Game of the Year will prove controversial given the sheer number of great games that are released every year, but it is hard to fathom how some of these were overlooked.
Hitman 3 Should be at The Game Awards
Hitman 3 is releasing new content nearly 11 months on from its successful release, speaking to the game’s popularity among gamers. Despite this strong support, and the fact that the game is considered by some to be the best of the Hitman series, Hitman 3 has not received even a nomination for Game of the Year. Some have noted that Hitman 3 was released in January and as such, it may have fallen victim to recency bias. Notably, the earliest release date of all of the Game of the Year nominees comes from It Takes Two which came out in late March. As such, the likes of Hitman 3 may have possibly just left the collective minds of gamers because of when it was released, so perhaps if The Game Awards were held closer to the beginning of the year it would have been in with a shout.
The release of Hitman 3 was overwhelmingly successful, and it was thrown into discussions as a very early Game of the Year contender. Hitman 3 has also been snubbed for the award of Best Action/Adventure Game, although it has picked up a nomination for Best AR/VR Game of 2021. Hitman 3 is one of the most glaring omissions from this year’s Game of the Year nominee, as it was one of the more impressive releases of this year, with one of the more dedicated fanbases. Perhaps one of Agent 47’s future endeavors will be rewarded with a Game of the Year nomination, but for now, the efforts of Hitman will go without recognition for the top award in gaming.
Hitman 3 is out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.