Shroud just started a GOTY war between Arc Raiders and Expedition 33: "we all have to band together"

Predicting Clair Obscur Expedition 33 to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards next month is one of the surest bets you can make. A bad word was barely uttered about it by the critics, but it's also shifted millions of copies to become beloved by gamers everywhere. However, for one of the biggest livestreamers on the planet, former Counter-Strike pro Michael 'Shroud' Grzesiek, Arc Raiders should scoop the award. In fact, he's so impassioned by this belief (and addicted to Embark Studios' new extraction shooter) he has called on fans of multiplayer games everywhere to "band together" when The Game Awards public voting commences, so that Arc Raiders beats Expedition 33 to the top prize of the year.

I think Arc Raiders is totally fantastic - if you've read pretty much anything I've written about the game in the last couple of months, you'll know that already. It is certainly one of my games of the year, creating more emergent, memorable moments in a week than most of its rivals do in a full rotation of the sun. I'd still have to think very hard about calling it my absolute GOTY pick, though, due to Expedition 33 and the joyous Blue Prince. Shroud, though, has made up his mind. Given his competitive background, it's no surprise, but now he's even rallying his huge following and the wider community of multiplayer gamers to get behind Arc Raiders.

"Dude, we gotta make sure this game wins Game of the Year by the way," he says between matches during a recent livestream. "We cannot let that Expedition game win Game of the Year. Do not let it. Absolutely do not. We all have to band together to make this game win. Us multiplayer gamers are the minority, ok? We are the minority being multiplayer gamers. But I believe we can win. I believe. We just need to tell everybody. I've never voted for anything, ever. But I think I'm going to vote this year for this game."

After claiming that award shows are "rigged" anyway (not sure about that one, Shroud) he does admit that if Expedition 33 did win, it would be "justified."

Now, could a concerted effort from the Arc Raiders playerbase actually make a difference? Well, the public can vote on The Game Awards' main categories, however those numbers are also combined with the verdicts given by a jury, made up of media outlets. Given Arc Raiders actually reviewed extremely well for a competitive multiplayer game, with an average Metacritic score of 87, it could also attract a lot of votes from the jury as well - that is, if it is even nominated in the GOTY category. With Expedition 33, Blue Prince, Hollow Knight Silksong, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Split Fiction, Death Stranding 2, and Hades 2 all also in the running, I'm unsure if it'll get a look-in.

It's also worth noting that while some past TGA GOTY winners have had co-op components, the only out-and-out multiplayer game to ever win that coveted prize is Overwatch back in 2016. That doesn't exclude or diminish Arc Raiders at all - I'm just saying its rare for a competitive title to be up among those critically acclaimed single-player games.

There is one glimmer of hope for Shroud and co., though. Should the format stay the same this year, then there will at least be the Players' Voice award, which is solely determined by fan votes. If Arc Raiders is nominated, then a Shroud-motivated barrage of votes could see it scoop that award. The widespread love for the likes of Expedition 33, however, will make it tough to beat.

For more must-play, highly rated titles, check out our best PC games list. Or if you're slumming it out in Speranza right now, here are all the Arc Raiders field depot locations which are needed to complete early quests and can get you some helpful loot, too.