According to IGN, popular streamer Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek has accused The Game Awards of being “rigged” following the 2025 nominations reveal. The controversy stems from Arc Raiders receiving only one nomination in the Best Multiplayer category, while Sandfall’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads with a record-breaking 12 nominations. Shroud, who boasts 6.8 million YouTube subscribers and 11.3 million Twitch followers, had heavily campaigned for Arc Raiders as Game of the Year over Expedition 33. The streamer specifically targeted Donkey Kong Bananza’s inclusion in the GOTY category, questioning who actually plays the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. The Game Awards ceremony is scheduled for December 11, 2025 at 5pm PT.
The AI elephant in the room
Here’s the thing that makes this particularly interesting: Shroud directly pointed to Arc Raiders‘ controversial AI-generated voice work as the reason it got snubbed. “The world is just not ready for AI in video games, not yet,” he said during his Twitch stream. That’s actually a pretty insightful take from someone who’s usually all about gameplay over everything else. The gaming industry is currently having this massive internal debate about AI implementation, and awards shows tend to reflect the more conservative, traditional side of that conversation. Basically, if your game pushes boundaries in ways that make the establishment uncomfortable, don’t expect recognition.
How award shows really work
Shroud’s not wrong about awards shows having their own agendas. He straight up said “All the f***ing awards are rigged anyway, who cares?” and honestly? He’s not entirely off base. The Game Awards uses this hybrid system where media/influencer votes carry more weight than public voting. Geoff Keighley has openly worried about “social engineering” if they went full public vote. But here’s the reality: when you’ve got a streamer with millions of followers telling his audience to vote for something, that IS social engineering too. The whole system is basically designed to balance industry credibility with fan engagement, and sometimes games fall through the cracks.
The eternal genre war
What’s really fascinating here is how this reflects the ongoing tension between single-player narrative experiences and competitive multiplayer games. Shroud specifically said multiplayer gamers were “the minority” when asking his fans to vote for Arc Raiders. And he’s not wrong about the demographics – award shows consistently favor story-driven single-player experiences over purely gameplay-focused multiplayer titles. Look at the GOTY nominees: Expedition 33, Death Stranding 2, Hades 2 – these are all games that prioritize narrative and world-building. Meanwhile, Arc Raiders is fundamentally a competitive shooter. Different audiences, different priorities.
What this means for game development
So here’s the million-dollar question: does any of this actually matter? For developers chasing prestige and industry recognition, absolutely. Award nominations drive sales, attract talent, and can determine future funding. But for the actual players? Probably less so. The fact that Arc Raiders got nominated for Best Multiplayer suggests the industry acknowledges its quality, even if they’re not ready to crown it king. The real test will be whether Embark Studios doubles down on their AI integration or pulls back after this experience. Either way, Shroud’s outrage has guaranteed this conversation will continue long after the awards are handed out on December 11th.
