Twenty-twenty was a weird, exhausting year for everyone, but for the gaming industry, it was basically a fever dream. We were all stuck inside, staring at screens, waiting for Cyberpunk 2077 to change our lives—only for it to melt our base PS4s instead. But when the dust settled at The Game Awards, one title stood taller than the rest, clutching a record-breaking pile of trophies. The Last of Us Part II became the official 2020 game of the year, and honestly? The internet hasn’t been the same since.
It wasn't just a win. It was a cultural flashpoint that divided fans so deeply you’d think they were arguing about politics rather than a digital story about a girl and her guitar.
The Night Naughty Dog Swept the Floor
When Geoff Keighley announced the winner, it felt both inevitable and shocking. Naughty Dog’s sequel didn't just win; it dominated. It took home seven awards that night, including Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, and an incredible performance award for Laura Bailey. For context, it beat out heavy hitters like Hades, Ghost of Tsushima, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Doom Eternal, and Final Fantasy VII Remake.
That lineup is insane.
Think about Animal Crossing for a second. It basically kept the global population sane during the first wave of lockdowns. Then you had Hades, the indie darling from Supergiant Games that proved you could tell a world-class story in a roguelike format. Most years, any of those would have walked away with the top prize. But Naughty Dog’s bleak, hyper-violent odyssey had a grip on the critics that couldn't be shaken.
Why The Last of Us Part II Was So Polarizing
Usually, when a game wins 2020 game of the year, there’s a general sense of "Yeah, that makes sense." With this one? Not so much.
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The backlash was immediate and, in many corners of the web, incredibly toxic. Part of it was the leaks. Months before the game actually launched, major plot points—including the death of a beloved character—hit the internet without context. People were furious before they even pressed the "Start" button. They felt betrayed.
But once people actually played it, the conversation shifted to the structure of the game itself. You spend the first half as Ellie, fueled by a singular, bloody-minded quest for revenge. Then, the game forces you to play as Abby—the person you’ve spent ten hours trying to kill.
It’s an uncomfortable, gutsy move. It’s also long. Like, really long.
The pacing is deliberate, meant to make you feel the exhaustion of violence. Critics loved this. They called it "challenging" and "transformative." A lot of players, however, just felt miserable. They didn't want to empathize with a character they were "supposed" to hate. This friction is exactly why the game remains a talking point years later. It didn't want you to have fun in the traditional sense; it wanted you to feel bad.
The Ghost of Tsushima Factor
We have to talk about the "Player’s Voice" award. While the critics chose The Last of Us Part II as their 2020 game of the year, the fans chose Ghost of Tsushima. Sucker Punch’s samurai epic was the "cleaner" game. It was beautiful, respectful of its inspirations, and—most importantly—it was a blast to play.
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There’s a clear divide here. One side of the industry wants games to be "Art" with a capital A, pushing boundaries and making players uncomfortable. The other side wants games to be, well, games. Ghost of Tsushima offered a satisfying loop of combat and exploration without the emotional baggage of a Naughty Dog script.
Hades and the Rise of the Indie Powerhouse
If we’re being real, Hades was the dark horse that probably deserved more hardware. It was the first time an indie game felt like a legitimate threat to the AAA giants in the top category. It didn't have the $100 million budget or the 2,000-person credits list, but it had more "soul" than almost anything else released that year.
Greg Kasavin and the team at Supergiant managed to make dying feel like progress. Every run in the Underworld felt fresh because the writing was so tight. It actually won "Game of the Year" from several other major outlets like IGN and the DICE Awards, proving that the 2020 game of the year title wasn't as unanimous as the trophy count might suggest.
The Technical Wizardry of 2020
Regardless of how you feel about Ellie or Abby, you can't deny the technical achievement. This was the swan song for the PlayStation 4. Naughty Dog managed to pull visuals out of that aging hardware that honestly look better than many games coming out today on the PS5.
The facial animations? Unmatched.
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The way characters' eyes move, reflecting the light or showing a flicker of hesitation before a strike, is haunting. Then there's the sound design. The "clink" of a shell casing on a concrete floor or the guttural wheeze of a Stalker nearby creates an atmosphere that is genuinely oppressive. It’s a masterclass in polish. Even the accessibility options were groundbreaking, allowing players with visual or motor impairments to finish the game—something the industry had ignored for far too long.
Misconceptions About the 2020 Win
A lot of people think the win was "rigged" or that critics were paid off. That’s just not how it works. The voting jury for The Game Awards consists of over 100 global media and influencer outlets. It's a massive, diverse group.
The reality is simpler: critics often value "ambition" over "enjoyment."
The Last of Us Part II took massive risks with its protagonist and its message about the cycle of violence. In a medium that often relies on power fantasies, a game that actively deconstructs that fantasy is going to get a lot of attention from people who play games for a living.
Actionable Steps for Revisiting 2020's Best
If you haven't touched these games since the chaotic winter of 2020, or if you skipped them entirely because of the discourse, here is how you should approach them now:
- Play The Last of Us Part II Remastered on PS5. The "No Return" roguelike mode actually lets you enjoy the incredible combat mechanics without the weight of the story. It turns the game into a pure tactical shooter, which highlights just how good the AI and physics really are.
- Give Hades a serious 10-hour window. Don't just play for an hour and quit. The story unfolds across dozens of runs. The real "ending" requires you to beat the final boss multiple times, and the narrative payoff is worth every death.
- Compare the "Feel" of Ghost of Tsushima. If you’re feeling burnt out by heavy narratives, Ghost is the perfect palate cleanser. Turn on "Kurosawa Mode" (the black and white filter) and just enjoy the wind guiding you across the island.
- Look at the 2020 Indie Scene. While the big names took the headlines, 2020 gave us Spiritfarer, Phasmophobia, and Fall Guys. These games redefined what a "hit" looks like in the modern era.
The legacy of the 2020 game of the year isn't just about one trophy. It’s about a year where gaming became the primary way we connected with the world. Whether you loved the winner or hated it, the fact that we’re still arguing about it proves it did exactly what art is supposed to do: it stayed with us.