When is the Giant Bomb GOTY happening?

Also what format will it be and who will participate in the discussions?

I haven't seen any news on the site and admittedly I've fallen out of the loop a bit where I don't consume every piece of content GB puts out at this point so if this was mentioned somewhere at the tail end of a Quick Look or in the middle of a recent UPF then apologies. I've heard that Jeff mentioned on the Keighley podcast that it is happening in January again? Like.. mid-January I presume?

Well, consuming every bit of GIant Bomb content, wouldn’t have helped you anyway. Word on the street is that Jeff G announced that the GOTY is in January again on that Geoff Keighley podcast. Why isn’t this info available on the site? I have no idea. Are we surprised? Willing to bet that we aren’t. I sure know I’m not.

Community spotlight from weekend just gone says it will be happening sometime in January, similar to how 2020 GOTY went down. As for the rest of your questions, not a clue, don't think that much has been discussed.

In terms of site-related news, the staff have revealed that their GOTY content has been moved to some time in January, much like last year. That said, that shouldn't stop any of you from working on the expected GOTY blogs and lists that usually hit the site! You can expect more details about Community voting and GOTY list-sharing soon-ish.https://www.giantbomb.com/articles/the-community-spotlight-2021-12-18/1100-6163/

@jesus_phish: Cool thanks!

I actully lik the idea of it being in January. That means 'they' and 'we' are playing games, thinking, and catching up on thoughts during their break. If this is good for the staff too...then ist a win-win.

I’m also kinda curious who is considered a participant for GotY recording in late January, given how time-intensive it is and how not-full-up the permanent staff is.

Is Jeff G all the way back from his part-time paternity leave/part-time do streams thing (I assume so, with the Halo review and Bombathon and everything)?

Is Jason all the way back from his medical leave/recovery (I assume so since he has been around a lot more on Bombcast/UPF)?

Is Danny included, or can he not spare an entire week of recording time given his role is usually part time?

Is Bakalar on GotY now? I’m still fuzzy on whether his role now has an editorial aspect or is meant to be more like Rorie’s where it’s site operation/management and managing the freelancers and show coordination. Obviously Bakalar has lots of opinions on games, but if Giant Bomb were writing reviews, I’m unclear on if Bakalar would be in the trenches writing reviews or if he’s more like “video series executive producer of Giant Bomb,” and GotY does feel like a review-esque offshoot.

For that matter, is Rorie on GotY now, given how he has frequently appeared on livestreams during recent months?

I assume Ben, Tamoor, and Lucy are not on GotY directly since their video appearances on GB are specific to a non-gaming premium show, though obviously they may or may not submit a guest top 10. Also Tam is on Borne to Run and Guilty Treasures, so I dunno, I guess his gaming tastes are arguably relevant to Giant Bomb, but also clearly he’ll be involved in Gamespot’s GotY.

Also the Jess addition is great because I have no goddamn idea what kind of stuff she is going to back for GotY. She came in pretty late in the year, so aside from the past few weeks I have no idea what she might champion. Kinda same for video producer/anime editor Jan, who I feel like was equally lukewarm on all the JRPGs and Pokémon games he played this year, so maybe it’s just Super Auto Pets all the way to number one.

Also I can’t wait to hear what Bryan Stills has to say about video games of 2021.

I think it's safe to say that we need, no.. we deserve to finally experience the complete chaos of Rorie unleashed on one of these GOTY discussion shows. Rorie is a straight shooter and he calls it like he sees it. Story? Not a problem, how good was the shooting though? Is your game intro longer than 5 minutes before you hit gameplay? Sorry! Is there an overly long intro cutscene? Nope! We need to see this in action, the expert whittling down of lists from the Boss of Bosses himself.

@humanity: I've long decided that personally Rorie's opinions on video games have pretty much no relevance to me but honestly I would be extremely down for this.

some say his filibuster for Mr. Shifty during GOTY 2017 released so much latent energy into the atmosphere that scientists are currently studying it as a source of unlimited renewable energy.

#UnleashThePups #RorieGoty2021

Agree that Rorie deserves a spot at the table here.

Also, I'm happy for the GB staff that they get have time off without worrying about putting out CONTENT during the holidays. I also loved the old days of having something to listen to every weekday from Christmas to New Year's. If this new method works for them, though, I'm more than happy to wait.

@bladeofcreation: I like GOTY conversations at the tail end of December because I usually have a bit of time off from work so I can relax and listen to those very long discussions during a walk or that rare moment where I can just lounge on the couch starring up at the ceiling. In January when work is ramping back up and I barely have enough time to squeeze in two hours of gaming each day I just don't have the leisure to enjoy those podcasts. Also I dunno.. something about January makes me also feel like a million years have passed instead of a week or two and I just don't even want to go back to those discussions. It doesn't make sense I know. So sure I would have preferred for them to take this week to record a few conversations and then spend the rest of Christmas relaxing, but I see theres an equal amount of folks that prefer the January release so hey, you can't please everyone.

I guess too late now but would like to see return to Christmas week GOTY. They used to do it during week of christmas or week after and it always was something to look forward to on break. Now, like most videos, I consume nightly over the course of days/weeks which is fine as well. Really need to play/finish Psychonauts 2 and Deathloop before listening to spoiler discussions anyway.

January is good for me.

It is generally a quiet month on the site and in games. Releasing then fills that, and also lets us finish off games in the holiday break. It'll also nicely give those games released late and thus missed a chance to shine in discussions.

But hey, I can listen to podcasts while doing work at my desk - so lucky there. Understand many aren't able to do do.