The Twitch streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek talked in a recent stream about potential winners for the Game of the Year 2025 (GOTY). He would prefer a shooter to win the title over a very popular RPG.
Which game does shroud see as GOTY 2025? Some contenders are lining up for this year’s GOTY. Although the official nominations are still pending, there are already clear favorites within the community. Games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Split Fiction, or Hades 2 have gained significant popularity in 2025.
Twitch streamer shroud believes that the shooter Arc Raiders, which also had a high influx of players, should win the title for Game of the Year 2025 instead of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. According to his statements, shroud wants a multiplayer game to win, as they are a “minority”. However, it remains unclear why he does not want Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to win the title.
shroud will vote for GOTY for the first time this year but simultaneously believes that award shows are manipulated anyway. His opinion is not surprising as shroud is a shooter pro and personally enjoys the game a lot.
Developers of Palworld respond to shroud’s statement
What are the reactions to the statements? The community mostly reacts skeptically or mockingly to shroud’s opinion. On X, for example, SenSnipez writes: “Just because he said it, I’m creating multiple accounts to vote for Expedition 33.” Also, tiddybar cannot really understand shroud’s statement (Source: X): “Bro wants an oversaturated genre to win GOTY, lol.”
One of the developers of the Pokémon alternative Palworld, Bucky, also responded to X regarding shroud’s statement and simultaneously revealed which game he sees as GOTY: MEGABONK. Bucky posted a montage of shroud’s statement along with gameplay clips of the roguelike and wrote: “I fixed it for you, shroud”
The GOTY award ceremony will take place on December 11, 2025. Until then, there is still time for speculation. Which game do you see as GOTY 2025? Let us know in the comments!
As a shooter expert, shroud frequently shares his opinions on current shooters in the market. He believes there is one key reason why tactical shooters are struggling: players would simply prefer to play 3-year-old games. More on MeinMMO: shroud is convinced that new tactical shooters have a hard time because gamers prefer to play 3 old games
