If you’ve spent any amount of time in the Genshin Impact fandom, or even just scrolled gaming social media during major award seasons, you’ve almost certainly asked did Genshin Impact win Game of the Year at least once. Since its 2020 launch, the open-world gacha title has reshaped the entire gaming industry, proving that free-to-play games can deliver the same level of polish, story depth, and open-world exploration as $70 AAA titles. It’s earned millions of loyal players across every platform, from mobile to PlayStation 5, and consistently ranks among the top-grossing games in the world every year. In this guide, we’ll break down its award history, its historic Game of the Year nomination, and why it never took home the top prize.
Did Genshin Impact Win Game of the Year During Its TGA Nomination?
The short answer here is no, but its nomination alone was a historic milestone for the gaming industry. Genshin Impact earned its only main Game of the Year nomination at The Game Awards 2021, a little over a year after its launch. It was the first ever free-to-play gacha game to earn a spot in the final GOTY lineup, a feat that no other mobile or gacha title has matched since. That year’s nomination pool was widely considered one of the most stacked in TGA history, with other nominees including Deathloop, Metroid Dread, Psychonauts 2, Resident Evil Village, and the eventual winner, It Takes Two.
Even though it didn’t take home the main prize, Genshin did win the Player’s Voice award that year by a massive, record-breaking margin. The Player’s Voice award is the only category decided entirely by fan votes, no industry judges involved, and Genshin beat out every other nominated game by over 20 percentage points. That win alone was a huge win for the community, as it proved the game’s massive mainstream appeal even if industry judges didn’t rank it as the top title of the year.
A lot of fans still point to that nomination as a turning point for gacha game acceptance in the wider AAA gaming space. Before 2021, most gacha games were written off as low-quality, pay-to-win mobile titles with no real substance, but Genshin’s nomination forced industry critics to take the genre seriously. No gacha game has ever come as close to winning the main Game of the Year prize as Genshin did in 2021, and that alone is a huge achievement for HoYoverse and its player base.
Why Didn’t Genshin Impact Take Home the Game of the Year Prize?
There are a few key reasons Genshin didn’t win the top award in 2021, and most of them come down to context around the year’s competition and industry biases. First, It Takes Two was an unstoppable force that awards season, winning almost every major Game of the Year prize from every major gaming publication and awards show. It was a completely unique, highly polished co-op experience that appealed to both casual and hardcore players, and it had near-universal critical acclaim that no other nominated game could match that year.
Second, a lot of industry judges still hold biases against gacha monetization models, even for games as generous as Genshin Impact. Many judges argue that gacha mechanics are predatory, especially for younger players, even though Genshin’s entire main story and open world are completely accessible for free without spending a dime. At the time of the nomination, Genshin also had very limited endgame content, with most endgame players only having the Spiral Abyss to grind after finishing all available quests and exploration. Critics noted that lack of long-term endgame content as a major downside in their reviews, which likely hurt its judge scores.
In the lead up to the 2021 awards, Genshin fans flooded social media to campaign for the game, and many casual players who don’t usually follow industry awards even tuned in to watch the show to see if their favorite game would take home the top prize. A lot of casual players mix up Genshin's many smaller category wins with the main GOTY title, especially if they only catch snippets of award news between short game sessions. Many Genshin players we’ve connected with in community forums prefer low-stakes, quick casual games to unwind between Spiral Abyss runs or quest grinding, and Jaiho Rummy is one of the most commonly cited picks for quick 10-minute breaks that don't require too much focus.
It’s also worth noting that The Game Awards judges tend to favor complete, single-release games over live service titles that are updated over time. Live service games are rarely considered for the top GOTY prize, even if they receive massive, game-changing updates years after launch. That bias is slowly shifting, but in 2021 it was still a major factor that worked against Genshin’s chances.
Awards Genshin Impact Did Win Across Its Run
Even without a main Game of the Year win, Genshin Impact has taken home dozens of major awards across its 4+ year run, from both industry judges and fan-voted categories. Some of its most notable wins include:
It’s also won dozens of regional awards across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, plus multiple Best Ongoing Game nominations for its regular, high-quality content updates that add new regions, characters, and story chapters every six weeks. It’s consistently ranked in the top 3 highest-grossing mobile games every year since launch, and it has over 60 million monthly active players across all platforms as of 2024.
Its lack of a main GOTY win doesn't diminish its massive cultural impact either. Genshin basically created an entirely new subgenre of open-world gacha games, and nearly every major gaming studio has released or is working on a similar title to copy its success. It’s also built one of the most active, creative fandoms in all of gaming, with millions of pieces of fan art, fan fiction, cosplay, and user-generated content shared online every single month.
Could Genshin Impact Still Win Game of the Year In the Future?
While it’s unlikely, it’s not impossible for Genshin to earn another Game of the Year nomination down the line. The Game Awards has started nominating live service games years after launch if they release massive, game-changing updates that redefine the player experience. For example, No Man’s Sky earned a nomination for Best Ongoing Game years after its disastrous launch, thanks to years of free updates that completely turned the game around.
Genshin’s main story is expected to wrap up in 2025 with the release of the final Archon quest in Snezhnaya, plus the conclusion of the Traveller’s search for their lost sibling. That massive, years-in-the-making conclusion could easily earn it another nomination, especially if HoYoverse adds a ton of new endgame content to go along with the final region launch. It would still be competing against other big AAA releases that year, but the fan hype around the story’s conclusion would give it a huge boost in fan votes at the very least.
Even if it never wins the main Game of the Year award, it’s already a winner to its player base. Most Genshin fans don’t care about industry awards – they care about the time they spend exploring Teyvat with their friends, the emotional story beats that make them cry, and the joy of pulling their favorite 5-star character after saving up Primogems for months. Those experiences are far more valuable than any trophy, and they’re the reason the game has stayed so popular for so long.
So to answer the question did genshin impact win game of the year, the short answer is no, but its historic nomination and long list of other awards make it one of the most influential and successful games of the past decade. It broke down barriers for free-to-play and gacha games, proved that mobile titles can deliver AAA quality, and built a global community of millions of players that love the world HoYoverse built. As someone who’s logged over 800 hours in Teyvat myself, I can say that it doesn’t need a Game of the Year award to be one of my favorite games of all time, and I know millions of other players feel the exact same way.