Games like Resident Evil Village and Metroid Dread, meanwhile, had been out longer, meaning players were more likely to have developed a more fully-formed conclusion of both those games.Īnother thing that could have influenced Halo Infinite’s Players’ Voice Award win is a case of recency bias, with the game being the most recently released title out of the five nominations. There’s nothing wrong with judging Halo Infinite as a great title if it were solely a multiplayer experience, but its campaign is a core component and one players were unlikely to have finished so soon after its release. That doesn’t seem like enough time for fans to jump into Master Chief’s newest story and formulate a positive opinion about the narrative, making the voting stand solely on the multiplayer mode alone. One key issue with Halo Infinite winning the Players’ Voice Award is that the multiplayer mode hasn’t even been out a month, and Halo Infinite's solo campaign just released a mere day before The Game Awards took place. Halo Infinite Hasn't Been Out Long Enough To Be Judged Properly While Halo Infinite is a well-crafted shooter from 343 Industries that has received praise for its multiplayer and story, making the reaction from fans understandable, the game winning this particular award is a bit questionable for a few reasons. Halo Infinite was the clear winner for the category with 35% of the fan votes, holding a reasonable advantage over the second-place Metroid Dread, which received 22% of the votes. Related: Game Awards 2021: Every Big Announcement & New Game Revealįor the final round of the Players’ Voice Award, players were asked to choose from these five different games: Metroid Dread, Halo Infinite, It Takes Two, Resident Evil Village, and Forza Horizon 5. The second round of the Players’ Voice Award, voting saw players narrowing down those 10 games to a smaller list of five titles, which led to the third and final round of voting. Voting for the Players’ Voice Award consisted of three different rounds, with the first round asking the gaming community to choose 10 games from 30 of the best titles released during 2021. The Players’ Voice Award allowed gaming fans a more direct impact on a specific category, with a fully player-driven decision being made for the collective Game of the Year. The release of Halo Infinite so late in the year meant that the game wasn't eligible for nomination in a majority of the main award categories, except for the Players' Voice Award.
Halo Infinite's crossplay-friendly multiplayer was made available during Microsoft’s 20th Anniversary event in November and the solo campaign released on December 8, putting the release in the same week as The Game Awards 2021. Halo Infinite has had a bit of a rocky path heading towards release, being hit with delay and occasional moments of fan backlash before its launch. Halo Infinite won the Players’ Voice Award during The Game Awards 2021, calling into question the credibility of fan voting considering the game had only launched a day prior.