The announcement that The Game Awards would be considering DLC as eligible for nominations across several categories led to plenty of speculation regarding whetherElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreewould get a Game of the Year nod. Sure enough,Shadow of the Erdtreehas landed nominations not just for Game of the Year but also for Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction, and Best RPG. The Game Awards is no stranger to being fraught with controversy, but the nomination of a DLC expansion for some of the most prestigious award categories has led to plenty of heated discourse regarding whetherShadow of the Erdtreeis taking up a spot of games more deserving.
Unfortunately, the answer isn’t as simple or binary as one might think. While in most cases, a DLC expansion shouldn’t be eligible,Shadow of the Erdtree’s additions toElden Ring’s core metaand experience put it in a different league altogether. On the other hand, those additions aren’t accessible to anyone without a copy ofElden Ring.Shadow of the Erdtree’s nominations raises important questions about whether future DLC can and should be eligible for what’s the most-watched celebration of excellence in the industry, and it provides an intriguing case for either side of the argument.
Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree Expansion Raises the Bar for DLC
The argument in favor ofShadow of the Erdtree’s nominationsat The Game Awards rests on the fact that the expansion is comparable to a full AAA release. It’s an argument that holds water given thatShadow of the Erdtreeaccomplishes something that few other DLC expansions have ever done. Not only isShadow of the Erdtreea massive 40+ hour expansion with a treasure trove of content for returning players, but its additions to the gameplay and lore of the base game make it an unmissable part of theElden Ringexperience.
In other words,Shadow of the Erdtreeshowcases FromSoftware operating at its peak to deliver more of the game that sweptThe Game Awards in 2022. As both an expansion to an existing game and a standalone product,Shadow of the Erdtreearguably raised the bar for what’s possible in a major DLC addition to a popular AAA release, and there’s every likelihood that other developers have taken notice.Shadow of the Erdtreeis tantamount to being “Elden Ring 1.5”, and were it not a DLC expansion, it would handily have earned all of its nominations at The Game Awards with probably zero controversy.
Players Have to Cross Some Serious Barriers to Access Shadow of the Erdtree
The case againstShadow of the Erdtree’s nominations is fairly straightforward as well. This is the first year in which a DLC to an existing game has been eligible for GOTY. Rather than create a new category specific for DLC and expansions to be recognized at the ceremony, The Game Awards adjusted its rules to allowShadow of the Erdtreeto be nominated. It also feels like the exception was made specifically for Shadow of the Erdtree, and the controversy wouldn’t like be such a big deal if this had always been the rules OR the rules weren’t made for the game. Regardless of its quality and place as an essential part oftheElden Ringexperience,Shadow of the Erdtreestill requires players to already ownElden Ringand to have completed a sizable portion of the game to even access the DLC.
To even step foot in The Realm of Shadow and experience allShadow of the Erdtreehas to offer, players need to be far enough along in the main quest ofElden Ringtodefeat Mohg, which is easier said than done and other bosses. Beyond that, though, opening up the floodgates to allow DLC to be eligible for nominations sets a precarious precedent for how developers and publishers might structure their releases moving forward.
