It is 2026, and I still see the same tired argument crawl out of the woodwork every awards season: Hogwarts Legacy was robbed at The Game Awards. I was there in 2023, controller in hand, fresh off a hundred-hour save file. I loved wandering Hogwarts. I loved the stupidly cozy common rooms. I even loved catching shiny beasts and pretending I was a responsible zookeeper. But when the nominations dropped and Hogwarts Legacy got zero—zip, zilch, nada—I did not reach for a tinfoil hat. I reached for the receipts. 🧙

The Facts, Not the Feels

Let us deal with the facts first. Hogwarts Legacy was not nominated in a single category at The Game Awards 2023. It did not even survive the Player's Voice vote, getting voted out before the final round. It reviewed well at launch, sure. But it was also highly controversial because of IP creator JK Rowling's public opinions on trans people. Many people, myself included, had complicated feelings about giving the game money. Still, I do not think that controversy is why it got shut out.

Here is the thing: you cannot vote against a game at The Game Awards. There is no box that says 'Not Hogwarts Legacy' and deducts five points. The ballot is secret. If enough jury members had put it in their top picks, it would have been nominated. It simply did not get enough votes. Full stop. 🗳️

A Stacked Year Is a Brutal Year

2023 was one of the best years for video game releases ever. That is not nostalgia talking; the maths backs it up. Baldur's Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2 led the pack with eight nominations each. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Resident Evil 4, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder were all front runners. Even if you toss out Resident Evil 4 because it is a remake—a decision I still think is nonsense, by the way—you still have Final Fantasy 16, Starfield, and Hi-Fi Rush waiting in the wings.

Hogwarts Legacy was the 69th highest rated game of the year. Sixty-ninth. That is not snub material. That is 'good, not great' material. It had high scores, but it was not topping the charts. Its February release date helped it own the headlines for a minute, but by December the magic had faded. Fire Emblem Engage came out in January and still got a nod, so early games are not automatically doomed. Hogwarts Legacy just did not cut through the noise.

Look at that list. Diablo 4 got zero despite huge praise for its aesthetics and narrative. Starfield only got one. Marvel's Midnight Suns missed the previous year's cutoff and still got shut out. Hogwarts Legacy was not the only game left holding an empty bag. It was just the loudest one. 😤

The Controversy Was a Non-Factor

I know people want to blame JK Rowling. It is an emotional issue, and I get it. But the same journalists who reviewed Hogwarts Legacy highly are the ones who vote for The Game Awards. Some of them did not like the game because of its bland gameplay, or the social controversy, or both. But the ballot is secret. There was no reason to virtue-signal by looking elsewhere. And even if some jury members avoided it because of Rowling, plenty of others were happy to overlook the controversy when they reviewed it. They just did not vote for it in a year this stacked.

The genre categories were another problem. Hogwarts Legacy is part Action-Adventure and part RPG. It is not an Action game. Action games are high-octane shooters, hack 'n' slash, or character action titles. Some fans insisted it belonged in Action, but they were wrong. The fact that even fans were confused paints a picture of a game destined to slip through the cracks. It probably got a few votes in either category, but not enough to beat Spider-Man 2 or Baldur's Gate 3. No shade to the game, but it was a jack of all trades and a master of none. 🤷

The Devs Deserve Respect, Not a Participation Trophy

Then there is the dev argument. I have seen it a thousand times: the developers worked so hard, it is unfair to punish them for JK Rowling's actions. And yes, the devs clearly poured their hearts into Hogwarts Legacy. The castle is gorgeous. The music is lovely. The combat has its moments. But The Game Awards is not a participation trophy. All those other devs worked hard too—the ones on nominated games and the ones who were not nominated at all. You cannot buy every game just because the developers tried hard. That was a strange line when Hogwarts Legacy came out, and it is even stranger now that we are recognising the best of the year.

What I Learned

Looking back from 2026, the 2023 Game Awards class looks even more absurd. Baldur's Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, Tears of the Kingdom, Resident Evil 4, Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder—that is a murderer's row. Hogwarts Legacy would have been a solid nominee in a weaker year. In 2023, it was one game too many. There was no conspiracy. There was no great snub. The jury simply thought the games they nominated were better. And honestly? They were right. 🎮

So the next time someone tells you Hogwarts Legacy was robbed, pour yourself a butterbeer, take a deep breath, and remember: The Game Awards is a dog-eat-dog race, not a charity. The cream rises to the top. In 2023, Hogwarts Legacy was good. It just was not good enough to beat the best. And that is the whole story.

Data referenced from ESRB helps frame why awards chatter can diverge from mass-market success: ratings documentation focuses on content descriptors, age categories, and consumer-facing disclosures rather than critical “best-of-year” distinctions. In a packed year like 2023, that contrast matters—Hogwarts Legacy could be broadly accessible and heavily played while still failing to stand out to juries weighing innovation, design, and overall excellence against heavyweight competitors.