Astro Bot, a PlayStation 5 (PS5) platform game, just took home the most coveted prize at the Game Awards 2025: Game of the Year. This choice took many people online by surprise, which, of course, meant many sprinted to social media to express their anger and indignation.
The reaction to Astro Bot winning Game of the Year is a prime example of how the internet and gaming culture can divide people, despite their promise as forms of connection.
Before we get there though, let’s spend some time looking at what actually happened.
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What Is Astro Bot? And How Did The Internet React To It Winning Game Of The Year?
Astro Bot is a video game developed by Team Asobi and was released worldwide on the PS5 on September 6, 2024. The game itself is a 3D platformer, where players control the eponymous character, Astro Bot, as it explores and moves through imaginary worlds.
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Reviewers, both professional and amateur, have been glowing about the title, with Metacritic showing universal acclaim from both. Currently, Astro Bot sits at 94 score from critics and 9.2 from users, both close to the respective 100 and 10 limits.
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For many, it wasn’t a huge surprise that the title picked up a variety of wins at the Game Awards
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This begs some questions: what’s happening? Why are people so passionate about a game winning and award? And what role does social media play in all this?
Why Is The Internet So Divided About Astro Bot Winning Game Of The Year?
There are a few things we need to cover to understand the online reaction to Astro Bot. The first is the role that video games play in many people’s lives.
In a study from Front Psychiatry, researchers found that escapism is “one of the main motives for playing virtual games.”
This has a mix of negative and positive outcomes. The beneficial part of this escapism is it can “[foster] confidence, determination, a sense of belonging in virtual communities, and representation through avatars.”
While the downsides include elements such as a “non-adaptive real social life” and a “negative perception of … real-world life.”
To put that in another way, for many people, video games become a community hub, a place of belonging and socializing that they may not have outside of their computer or console.
This can lead to incredible personal investment in games. People have entire online communities based around the enjoyment of a title, whether that’s Elden Ring or Astro Bot.
When something that’s meant to united the industry happens, like the Game Awards, some people are so dedicated to the games they love, their immediate reaction to the wider world not sharing the same opinion is to lash out. Or, on the other side, celebrate wildly with validation when the game they like is recognized.
An interesting study reported by Scientific American showed that one of the elements that drives online polarization are influencers. As the piece explains, in network science, an influencer is someone who is connected to lots of other people. Well-followed accounts, in other words. It’s these individuals or groups who are able to influence swathes of people, sway online opinion, and contribute to radical takes.
Combine this with the fact that extreme views increase the number of likes a post gets, and therefore how much it’s seen, and what you’re left with is an environment that’s set up to prioritize strong opinions.
This is what’s happened with Astro Bot.
It winning Game of the Year caught the attention of dedicated communities, some of which liked it, some of which didn’t. This led to influential figures posting their views, and these polarising positions being rewarded by engagement.
While it’s beautiful to see people celebrating online, it is a shame when a moment of joy, such as a less well-renowned title like Astro Bot winning Game of the Year, is tarnished by a negative swell.
For better or worse, that’s the nature of the online world in this era. All we can do is watch, and try not to be sucked into negative discourse. So, with all that in mind, congratulations, Astro Bot. You deserved this win.