It's just a shame! Forza Horizon 5 was not included in the list of "Game of the Year"

The Game of the Year nominees have finally been announced, and while amazing titles like Resident Evil Village and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart make the list, Forza Horizon 5 has been left out.

The official list was announced on November 16, including the six "best" games released in 2021.

As always, there are selection criteria for games to be eligible, which many Forza Horizon fans have said may be why the game wasn't included. She eventually achieved critically acclaimed status across the board, earning perfect ratings handed out by the news outlets.

We rated the game a solid 10/10, as did IGN, VGC, Windows Central, TheGamer, GamesRadar+ and the list goes on - as seen in Metacritic

Despite all the success associated with its launch, a quick look at the eligibility requirements reveals that the cutoff was in fact 19 November 2021. This is 10 days after Horizon 5 hit store shelves, which means the game was eligible for the nominees but was rejected.

In a year cramped by release date delays, developers letting their audience down by selling broken games (looking at Cyberpunk 2077), and lack of excitement for the gaming calendar, Forza Horizon 5 should have made the list!

Let's take a look at the Game of the Year contenders.

Game of the Year nominees: 2021

The second potential excuse would be that this year's list might focus on "first-in-the-franchise" games, but that's not the case either. Obviously there are sequels on the list, which begs the question as to why the best racing game for Microsoft's successful series was left out?

Playground Games has made impeccable changes to inclusivity, such as customization of transgender characters, the addition of ASL/BSL interpreters, which allows the game to jump into the bounty fight.

Even with the fantastic gameplay overhaul, New Mexico map and best car list throughout the series, Forza Horizon 5 was ignored.

With a franchise like this, it's always hard to reinvent the wheel and go again, improving what the community is so familiar with. Look at FIFA, NFL, NHL and other sports titles to see how their player bases react to regular titles. They tend to complain about the lack of content or get bored with the same old shit.

Horizon 5 has not come under fire from critics and is devoid of player dissatisfaction. It has already broken records on Xbox, with the highest number of players in Xbox Games Studios history.

The developers of Forza Horizon 5 have announced and launched what is arguably the perfect driving game in a five-month window. At a time when developers have disappointed their fans so often that it's become the norm, Playground delivered the game on time, polishing it almost to perfection. The fact that they are not getting the recognition they deserve at The Game Awards on December 9th is a bloody shame!

Sorry, someone had to say this.

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