If you go back a few years to The Game Awards 2021, it felt like Hazelight Studios' It Takes Two was the "chosen one" of that event in many ways, racking up Game of the Year alongside a bunch of other awards.

It was a deserved win for a fantastic co-op game that built upon the success of A Way Out a few years prior, and it wasn't until early 2025 that we'd see a follow-up in the form of Split Fiction. However, considering how incredible this year has been for new releases, Split Fiction ended up getting essentially ignored at The Game Awards.

The game didn't even get nominated in the GOTY category, which seems strange considering it's arguably even better than It Takes Two. For what it's worth, we gave it an "Excellent" 9/10 here at Pure Xbox:

"Split Fiction raises the bar for co-op adventure games and will surely be in the 'Game of the Year' conversation come the end of 2025. Its increased difficulty will put some players off, but those who relish the challenge will discover a magnificently varied, inventive and ambitious gameplay journey that's bound to stick long in the memory."

There's a good reason for why Split Fiction was ignored this year, and its name is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Sandfall Interactive's incredible RPG was definitely the "chosen one" of The Game Awards 2025, but its immense success meant that some major games had to miss out on any awards whatsoever. Earlier today, we even saw how the Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 team had been bemoaning their lack of love at the event.

I'm certainly not going to argue that Expedition 33 shouldn't have won Game of the Year, because honestly I think it's my pick for GOTY as well, but it also doesn't feel fair that a co-op classic like Split Fiction has taken home zero awards. If It Takes Two was that good to win GOTY in 2021, how has its more ambitious successor not won anything?!

None of this really matters, of course, but it would have been nice to see Split Fiction gets its flowers - and the same goes for many other amazing games that didn't win awards at the show this year. I do implore you to go and check out Hazelight Studios' latest co-op title if you haven't already, especially because I think its ending level is one of the best of any game I've ever played, and perhaps it might have a shot at the Pure Xbox Game of the Year instead!

You can let us know yourself - voting for the PX Game of the Year 2025 officially begins this Saturday.

Which games do you think deserved more awards at The Game Awards 2025? Tell us down below.