It is given in honor of "the single game, without regard to system or delivery mechanism, voted by the membership of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences that best utilizes the chosen medium to entertain users".
[2] The most recent winner of the award is Astro Bot, developed by Team Asobi and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Only three expansion packs had ever been nominated (all during the awards ceremony in 2001): Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark, and RollerCoaster Tycoon: Loopy Landscapes.
Pokémon Yellow, Nintendogs, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds were the only nominees that were released for handheld game consoles.
There had been six nominees that were released for mobile devices at the time of their nomination: Angry Birds HD, The Walking Dead, Hearthstone, Pokémon Go, Vampire Survivors, and Balatro.
Journey, Borderlands 2, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Inside, and Into the Breach would eventually be released for mobile devices, but they were not at the time of their nomination.
Sony has twice had back-to-back wins for Game of the Year; the first for LittleBigPlanet in 2009 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in 2010, and the second time for Journey in 2013 and The Last of Us in 2014.
The Grand Theft Auto franchise has garnered the most nominations without winning a single award in this category.