Forget ARC Raiders being snubbed – Split Fiction should be up for Game of the Year

Much has been made of the Game Awards nominees revealed yesterday, with a lot of discussion around the types of games listed for the main Game of the Year gong.

While I do feel that player sentiment won’t always match up to what’s nominated, I think former esports pro and longtime streamer shroud’s comments about ARC Raiders not being nominated are, actually, pretty valid – it’s a game that’s brought in an impressive community, and stands as one of the year’s biggest multiplayer hits.

Still, whether it’s down to the inclusion of AI voices or not, it’s not on the list. And, to my genuine surprise, neither is Split Fiction. Josef Fares and Hazelight’s follow-up to It Takes Two is nominated for a few awards, but it really felt like a shoo-in for the main award of the evening.

Split Fiction deserved more from The Game Awards

Look, I have no skin in the game either way. I’ll watch the awards at ridiculous o’clock in the UK, and enjoy some reveals no doubt, but I truly did feel as though Split Fiction would be in the conversation.

It’s the videogame equivalent of my six-year-old playing with action figures: constantly switching focus to new, shinier things and speaking in a near breathless way about what’s going on at any given moment.

Zoey and Mio’s story has staying power, too. I was worried that the more off-the-wall concept of being dragged through duelling fantasy and sci-fi worlds would make the whole thing less human than It Takes Two’s more personal narrative, but Split Fiction has a lot to say about the power of human creativity in a world where AI is everywhere, about grief, about letting go, and about finding a better version of yourself on the other side of what feels like a downward spiral.

I reviewed the game for another outlet (which I won’t link here, but you can google it), and said “It’s a poignant and timely reminder that for all of technology’s advances, art is still made my artists, and that might just make it one of 2025’s most important games — as well as one of its best.”

Sure, I’m griping about a game I like not being nominated for an award I don’t care a great deal about in the grand scheme of things, but just as with my son, it’s a story that you won’t find told as masterfully, or as creatively, anywhere else.