The Game Awards 2019finally has a full list of nominees for all 29 categories that the show is looking to offer rewards for the best games of 2019. However, while plenty of great games found themselves nominated, a fewmajor gaming snubshave caught the attention of many disgruntled fans.
One of the most notable games to be left out of the the list of nominees is clearlyStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a recent game that many argue should be a contender for Game of the Year. This comes with one of the most divisive games of 2019 earning a nomination while only coming out one week earlier.
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Before getting into the “why” and “how” ofFallen Orderfinding itself out of The Game Awards this year, it’s important to focus on what did make it and where there might have been room for improvement. A few of the more notable ones includeSekiro,Death Stranding, and theResident Evil 2remake. Clearly, the team that chose these games nominated them for a reason, but some fans are fairly torn about a few of these decisions.
Sekirowas the center of a huge controversy back in March 2019 that sparked a longtime argument for games developed by FromSoftware to offer harder and easier settings in the company’s notoriously difficult titles. This argument even led to some PC fans creating anEasy Mode mod forSekiro, along with a flurry of memes based on a tweet about not cheating. However, the astounding review scores thatSekiroreceived on release make its inclusion as a Game of the Year nominee less of a surprise.
On the note of making an Easy Mode, though,Fallen Ordertackled the ordeal of making a hardcore action title withvarying degrees of difficultyand succeeded with flying colors in that aspect. The way thatFallen Orderapproaches difficulty is so much more than simply sliding enemy health and damage. By altering enemy aggression, deflection timing, and incoming damage,Fallen Orderis able to change the difficulty of a game without it feeling like enemies are artificially buffed or debuffed in a cheep way.
TheResident Evil 2remake also holds its share of controversy as a nominee for Game of the Year, although in this case not because of the quality of the game. It would be hard to name ahorror game from 2019that’s better than this latest remake, but the issue is that this isn’t a new title with a new story. This makes the lack of representation forFallen Ordereven stranger, considering that it would make more sense to include a new game as opposed to a remake.
Finally, on the list of games that could have moved out of the way forFallen OrderisDeath Stranding. This is one of the more interesting inclusions due to how divisiveDeath Strandinghas been since it released, withreviews ranging from masterpiece to walking simulator. WhileFallen Orderhad some of its own negative reviews for technical issues, it has been otherwise embraced as the best game within theStar Warsfranchise for nearly this entire console generation.
PittingDeath StrandingagainstFallen Orderalso brings up the question of timing. It’s easy to say thatFallen Ordercame out slightly too late for it to make the cut for The Game Awards, but with it releasing only a week afterDeath Stranding, that hardly seems like a reasonable excuse. While there are some critics and fans ready to die on the hill thatDeath Strandingdeserves to be Game of the Year, the knee jerk reactions seem to indicate thatFallen Orderhas more numerous support all-together.
Furthermore, in the case of timing, another game (or games) to be snubbed likeFallen Orderwould be the brand newPokemongames,SwordandShield. ThePokemongames released at the same time asFallen Order, but both were also left out of The Game Awards. In the case ofSwordandShield, these games may have never been in the running forGame of the Year, but they could have easily fit into categories such as Art Direction or Family Game.
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The lack of thePokemontitles does provide evidence as to the “why” ofFallen Ordernot making the cut in 2019’s Game Awards being nothing more than simple timing. WhileDeath Strandingmay have only barely made it into the show, the final decision on what made it into The Gaming Awards may have been made just beforeFallen Orderreleased. This could mean that the game could make it to The Game Awards 2020, although with an entire year between release and reward, it would likely be difficult for the title to gain the acclaim that many fans believe it deserves.
There are a number of games that made it into The Game Awards that could have easily made way for a title with thequality ofStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. However, the decision has been made and it would seem thatFallen Orderwill have to wait to earn its accolades, and no matter what The Game Awards decide, every gamer has likely already chosen their own winners. In addition, the community can try making that a reality by voting no their favorite games on The Game Awards website.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderis available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One
The Game Awardswill air on Jun 09, 2025
MORE:Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - Every Major Star Wars Reference
