Palworld specifically campaigned for the “better with friends” award.

It’s unfortunate. Games don’t get nominated by being apt for the category, they get nominated by being popular. Heck, last year RDR2 won in this category, and it’s never had any community support beyond a bug fix patch or two.

This whole thing is a popularity contest, for the most part. No way anyone nominating or voting in these awards has played more than a few of the eligible games.

“Unpopular Opinion: [popular opinion]!”

This would be massive, Kadokawa is a hell of a lot more than just Elden Ring. They’re one of the biggest media publishers in Japan. Books, manga, anime, games, you name it.