Shroud has once again weighed in on the Game Awards debate, maintaining that ARC Raiders would have won Game of the Year even after he spent time playing and praising Expedition 33, if only it had released earlier.
Arc Raiders released on October 30, 2025, to a immense praise reserved for instant multiplayer hits such as Fortnite and Apex Legends. And almost three months late, the game has managed to maintain the majority of its playerbase, a feat rarely accomplished in today’s gaming landscape.
Shroud was among many streamers who hopped on the extraction shooter and was insantly hooked. In the month that followed, the streamer was very vocal about Arc Raider’s potential accolades in the coming game awards season. However, the game was snubbed at the 2025 Game Awards.
Shroud drew criticism from fans of Expedition 33, the winner of the 2025 Game Awards, for his takes Arc Raiders missing out on a GOTY nomination, previously bashing the awards process and arguing that multiplayer games are at a disadvantage compared to single-player titles.
Shroud doubles down on Arc Raiders GOTY claims
After finally playing Expedition 33 himself, Shroud praised the game’s quality. Despite his praise for the GOTY winner, Shroud recently stated that timing, not gameplay, was the deciding factor in ARC Raiders falling short.
Speaking on stream, Shroud explained that ARC Raiders launched too close to the qualification cutoff for major award shows, leaving voters little time to fully process its impact.
“When this game came out, it came out like less than a month from the qualifications to even be in any game awards,” he said. “I really do believe if this game came out at this state in the summer, it for sure wins 10,000%. But there’s just not enough time. Three weeks, four weeks is not enough time to process how good a game actually is.”
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