Honestly, looking back at 2019 feels like peering into a different era of gaming history altogether. It was a year defined by the "swan song" energy of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, right before the world went sideways and next-gen consoles became the only thing anyone talked about. When we discuss the game of the year 2019, most people immediately point to The Game Awards where Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice took home the big trophy. But the conversation was—and still is—way messier than a single trophy suggests.
It was a weird time.
You had Hideo Kojima releasing Death Stranding, a game about walking and delivering packages that polarized literally everyone. Then there was Resident Evil 2, a remake so good it made people realize that nostalgia could actually be high art. We saw Control come out of nowhere with its brutalist architecture and trippy physics. Yet, through all that noise, FromSoftware’s shinobi epic managed to clinch the top spot. It wasn't just about difficulty; it was about a fundamental shift in how action games felt under your thumb.
The Night Sekiro Became the Game of the Year 2019
When Vin Diesel stepped onto the stage at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles to announce the winner, the tension was actually palpable. Most critics were hedging their bets on Control or maybe Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. When Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice won, it marked a massive turning point for Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team.
Before this, FromSoftware was the "Soulsborne" studio. They were the "niche" guys who made games that were supposedly too hard for the average person. Winning game of the year 2019 changed that narrative. It proved that a game with no difficulty slider, no multiplayer, and a punishing learning curve could be the definitive cultural moment of the year.
The game forced you to "clash swords." It wasn't about rolling through attacks like in Dark Souls. It was about rhythm. If you couldn't find the beat, you couldn't win. Simple as that. This uncompromising design philosophy is exactly why it stood out against competitors that were, frankly, trying a bit too hard to please everyone at once.
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Why Resident Evil 2 and Death Stranding Lost
Let's get real for a second. Resident Evil 2 was a masterpiece. Capcom basically wrote the blueprint for how to rebuild a classic from the ground up. However, the industry often struggles to give "Game of the Year" to a remake. There’s this lingering feeling among voters that if the foundation was built in 1998, it doesn’t deserve the top prize in 2019. It’s a bit unfair, but that’s the reality of how these ceremonies usually go.
Then you have Death Stranding.
Kojima’s first post-Konami project was the definition of "love it or hate it." I remember the reviews coming out; some people were calling it a 10/10 prophetic vision of human connection, while others were bored to tears by the three-hour trekking sequences. While it won "Best Game Direction," it was too divisive to be the consensus game of the year 2019. To win the big one, you generally need a broader base of support. Sekiro had that. Even the people who struggled with it respected the hell out of its precision.
The Indie Darlings That Almost Crashed the Party
We can't talk about 2019 without mentioning Disco Elysium.
If you haven't played it, you’re missing out on arguably the best writing in the history of the medium. ZA/UM created a world where your own internal monologue could be your worst enemy. It swept the independent categories and honestly, in many circles, it’s considered the "true" critical darling of that year.
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- Outer Wilds (not to be confused with The Outer Worlds) changed how we think about exploration.
- Untitled Goose Game became a literal meme that transcended gaming.
- Sayonara Wild Hearts proved that a pop album could be a video game.
These games didn't have the marketing budget of a FromSoftware title, but they filled the gaps in a year that felt surprisingly experimental.
The Difficulty Debate That Refused to Die
One of the reasons the game of the year 2019 discussion was so loud was because of the "easy mode" discourse. Remember that? Every few years, a FromSoftware game triggers a massive internet argument about accessibility and difficulty.
Sekiro was the catalyst for the most intense version of this debate. Because it lacked the "summoning" feature found in Dark Souls—where you could call a friend to help you beat a boss—you were truly on your own. You either learned the parry timing for Isshin, the Sword Saint, or you never saw the credits.
Critics like Dave Thier from Forbes and various writers at Polygon sparked a firestorm by suggesting that FromSoftware should include an easy mode to allow more people to experience the story. On the other side, you had the "git gud" crowd digging their heels in. This controversy kept Sekiro in the headlines for months, cementing its status in the cultural zeitgeist. It wasn't just a game; it was a litmus test for what people thought video games should be.
Looking Back: Does it Still Hold Up?
If you go back and play Sekiro today, it feels remarkably modern. Unlike many titles from that era, it doesn't suffer from "open-world bloat." There are no towers to climb. No map markers to clear. It is a lean, focused experience.
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In contrast, some of the other 2019 heavyweights haven't aged quite as gracefully. Gears 5 was great, but it feels like a relic of a specific design era. The Outer Worlds was a fun Fallout-style romp, but it feels a bit small and dated by today's standards. Sekiro remains unique. Nobody has quite managed to replicate that specific "clash of steel" feeling, not even Team Ninja with Wo Long or Sloclap with Sifu.
What the 2019 Winners List Looked Like
While Sekiro took the big one, the distribution of awards across the industry (D.I.C.E., BAFTA, GDC) showed just how spread out the talent was that year.
- The Game Awards: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- D.I.C.E. Awards: Untitled Goose Game (Yes, the goose actually won!)
- GDC Awards: Untitled Goose Game
- BAFTA Games Awards: Outer Wilds
The fact that four different major ceremonies picked three different games tells you everything. 2019 wasn't a "landslide" year like 2022 was for Elden Ring or 2023 was for Baldur's Gate 3. It was a year of fractured excellence.
The Technical Leap of 2019
We also saw the beginning of the "Ray Tracing" era. Control was the poster child for this. If you had a high-end PC back then, Control was the game you used to show off what your RTX card could do. The way the light reflected off the polished floors of the Oldest House was mind-blowing at the time.
This technical push is a huge part of why the game of the year 2019 conversation was so centered on Remedy Entertainment’s work. They were pushing the boundaries of physics and lighting in a way that made the "next generation" feel like it had already arrived.
Actionable Steps for Retrogaming Fans
If you’re looking to dive back into the 2019 catalog, don't just stick to the winners. There is a lot of gold buried in that year.
- Play Sekiro on Next-Gen: If you haven't played it since launch, try it on a PS5 or Xbox Series X. The 60fps boost makes the parry timing feel significantly more responsive than it did on the base PS4.
- Give Death Stranding a Second Chance: The "Director's Cut" adds a lot of quality-of-life features that make the early-game slog much more manageable. It’s a better game now than it was at launch.
- Don't Sleep on Sayonara Wild Hearts: It’s only about 90 minutes long. You can finish it in one sitting, and it’s a genuine audiovisual masterpiece.
- Check out Disco Elysium: The Final Cut: This version adds full voice acting, which transforms the experience. It makes the dense political and philosophical dialogue much more digestible.
The game of the year 2019 was more than just a title for Sekiro. It was the year that the "hardcore" design philosophy of FromSoftware finally broke into the mainstream for good, paving the road for Elden Ring to become a global phenomenon a few years later. Without Sekiro proving that players were hungry for a challenge, the gaming landscape today would look very different.