Image: GosuGamers
Gaming and esports are no laughing matter, and our extremely serious awards show is here to prove it.
The hardworking members of the GosuGamers writing team have already given our super-serious picks for the 2024 Game of the Year – but with all the things that have happened in both gaming and esports this year, we felt that the more lighthearted side of gaming and esports deserved to get due recognition. Playing games is serious business, but our Game Awards are here to highlight the weirdest and silliest moments in the gaming sphere. As one might imagine, there were quite a few of those this year.
And so, we bring you the GosuGamers not-so-serious Game Awards 2024, presented by GosuGamers™:
Like a prayer (choir version) award: Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2
By Kurt Lozano
One of Deadpool & Wolverine’s biggest contributions to pop culture was to let gamers know that the choir version of Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ is the perfect background to almost every epic moment in their favourite video games. This year, no moment was more fitting than the climactic missions of Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2, where the titular Space Marine Demetrian Titus and his battle brothers in the Ultramarines 2nd Company make a valiant last stand against the forces of Chaos before being saved at the last minute by their Chapter Master Marneus Calgar. I still get goosebumps to this day.
Blink and you miss it award: Concord
By Timothy Raj Augustin
The now-defunct Firewalk Studios’ now-defunct hero shooter Concord will forever be one of the most puzzling PlayStation exclusives ever made. After a good year of marketing, following seven years of development, the multiplayer game launched with disastrous results; few players were interested in Sony’s latest foray into the live-service market, and fewer still actually paid for the game.
It didn’t take long for PlayStation Studios to shut down the game and sunset its studio for good measure - which is a shame. Concord was clearly made by a very talented team, and its bones as a hero shooter had faults, but they were not beyond redemption. Ultimately, players just weren’t buying what Concord was selling, resulting in one of the biggest gaming flops in recent memory. It didn’t even make it to the holiday sales season!
Honourable mention: Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Ubisoft’s new mainline Assassin’s Creed game was set to launch in what has now turned into a rather tumultuous year for the company. Between rumours of an impending buyout, the underperformance of Star Wars Outlaws and controversy surrounding Assassin’s Creed Shadows itself, the company chose to push its next big release into 2025. New year, new Ubisoft, right? Right…?
Best cosmetics: Fortnite Kicks
By Timothy Raj Augustin
Fortnite is genuinely one of the most incredible video games ever made, and somehow, it has only become more incredible with time. Its crossovers are more ambitious, its map changes completely every year, and its gameplay has been remixed in a plethora of new game modes. None of this really matters however, as the only thing Fortnite needs to be is a video game where players can watch Godzilla, king of the monsters, hit the griddy in Air Jordans.
Fortnite Kicks simply make sense. Cosmetics, much like real-world clothing, provide a form of expression for players eager to stand out in digital battlefields - and shoes simply provide an extension to the myriad options Fortnite already offers its players. Not only can you emote, throw up stickers, put on backpacks and choose weapon skins - but you can now wear adorable little sharks on your feet too. You thought this game was silly before? Wait until you see Elsa with a shotgun… in a pair of Crocs.
Honourable mention: Dota 2’s Vengeful Spirit Arcana
Dota 2’s Arcana items are among the most coveted in-game items available, featuring customisation options so minute and unique - like sound effects and specific animations - that they simply don’t belong in the same category as the game’s regular cosmetics. The game’s recent Crownfall update added a ‘Resurrection of Shen’ Arcana for Vengeful Spirit, featuring three unlockable styles for a hefty $35.99. Is that price worth it? Who cares? We’re all going to die anyway, but only a select few of us are going to die with the Resurrection of Shen Arcana.
Most entertaining esports beef award: ATF vs SoNNeikO
By Kurt Lozano
Ammar “ATF” Assaf is one of the best players in the history of Dota 2. He’s also one of the game’s most, uh, vocal players – known for all-chatting, trash-talking, and all manner of let’s say… unprofessional behaviour in both casual pub games and professional matches.
That has gotten ATF into plenty of beef with a ton of other Dota 2 pros over the years, though most of it remained online until this year. In PGL Wallachia Season 2 in October, ATF got into a physical altercation with 
Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev after SoNNeikO responded to ATF’s trash talk in a pub game by promising to punch him the next time they saw each other in a LAN tournament. Luckily, Dota 2 legend 
Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi stepped in to mediate between the two players and squash the beef, for now…
Honourable mention: MobaZane vs Malaysia
When Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) pro 
Michael “MobaZane” Cosgun arrived in Malaysia in late November for the M6 World Championship, he posted an Instagram story with the text ‘noob’ pointed at the Malaysian flag after already downplaying the skill of players from the country by calling Malaysia an ‘ez server’. This angered Malaysian MLBB fans, of course, and even got the Malaysian Esports Federation involved. Malaysia won this beef, however, when MobaZane and his team, BloodThirstyKings, were knocked out of the M6 Swiss Stage by Malaysian squad Team Vamos. MobaZane gracefully responded afterwards by acknowledging Malaysia as a ‘medium server’.
Best esports in-game name award: fortniteMan from Paliantysia Dota 2
By Arianne Blanco
Professional esports players have a unique way of choosing usernames for themselves to stand out amongst their peers. So when 
Mykhailo “fortniteMan” Pylypenko got his start in the Dota 2 scene in 2021, he had to think up of a good username to carry his future Dota 2 pro gaming legacy… and somehow ended up with the moniker fortniteMan. He broke out with the team Paliantysia in the qualifiers of DreamLeague Season 24 in September, helping the team qualify over more established teams like OG. FortniteMan’s performance and unusual nickname quickly gained him a lot of fans.
Pylypenko said in an interview that the reasoning behind his in-game name was that he was once an avid Fortnite player, claiming to be a “good” and “fast builder” albeit with awful aim. He ultimately quit playing because he found it boring. The comedy of it all earns fortniteMan our Best Esports In-Game Name Award.
Most anime storyline in esports award: T1 winning Worlds 2024
Image: Riot Games
By Anna Bernardo
If any team embodied plot armour in 2024, it was iconic League of Legends (LoL) team 
T1. With a theme song, Heavy is the Crown, and a music video mirroring their Swiss Stage finish and Knockout Stage opponents, T1’s year truly felt like an anime.
Led by LoL GOAT 
Sang-hyeok “Faker” Lee, the team claimed their fifth League of Legends World Championship title, securing a historic back-to-back win. However, their journey was anything but smooth. Plagued by DDoS attacks for half the year, T1 settled for second in the LCK Spring Finals and third at the Mid-Season Invitational. Summer tested the faith of T1 fans as they lost to teams like KT Rolster, Hanwha Life Esports, and MSI champions Gen.G, barely clinching the last LCK spot for Worlds 2024 in a tense five-game series against KT Rolster.
Once in Berlin, T1 rediscovered their form, finishing the Swiss Stage with a 3-1 record. In the Quarterfinals, they swept LPL powerhouse Top Esports 3-0 before facing their nemesis, Gen.G, in the semifinals. Despite being winless against Gen.G all year, T1 stepped up, defeating Gen.G 3-1 to shatter their streak and secure a finals berth.
T1 faced China’s Bilibili Gaming in a gruelling five-game series in the grand finals. After losing the first game and nearly the second, T1 rallied with brilliant team plays and Faker’s clutch moments to claim the Summoner’s Cup.
Honourable mention: Team Liquid at The International 2024
Team Liquid’s story at The International this year is also one for the history books. The team had five consecutive grand finals losses against their rivals Gaimin Gladiators, and yet they faced their demons and crushed their competition to win the most important Dota 2 tournament of the year.
‘Actually good according to real Gam3rs’ award for best adaptation: Arcane Season 2
By Anna Bernardo
LoL fans might feel conflicted about season 2 of Arcane, the game's very own animated Netflix series, but they can agree on at least one thing: despite some artistic changes, it’s a great series.
The show did an amazing job of depicting some of the story's main characters, especially Jinx, the loose cannon, and her sister Vi, along with Caitlyn’s transformation and the essence of other champions like Ekko and Warwick (not the latter's appearance, though). And while the Arcane writers may have taken a more creative approach in Viktor’s arc — for Arcane, it worked.
Each episode took viewers to the edge of their seats, constantly making them question their beliefs and morals (and maybe, sometimes their sanity). Arcane’s storytelling was impeccable, weaving every aspect of its production together to tell its story and dive deeper into its main characters, from its cinematography, colour choices, and specificity of its animation styles. That allowed its many relatable, tear-jerking, and almost traumatizing moments, to land better.
Honourable mention: Fallout
Another standout series this year, to the point that it even won the best video game adaptation at the Game Awards this year. And for good reason: Fallout had a great cast of actors that did everything right, amazing set production, and a story that is considered canon within the same universe the other Fallout games are set in. It's the bomb.
‘How did you get there?’ award for weirdest crossover: Case Closed collaboration with Honor of Kings
By Tommy Makmur
What is the best crossover you can get for a MOBA featuring historical figures like Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Xiang Yu? Yep, you guessed it. Case Closed, or Detective Conan as it's known by in some countries. Honor of Kings recently collaborated with the manga franchise for skins and goodies in its Chinese server.
Three skins were given to the players for this collaboration: Edogawa Conan skin for Luban No. 7, Kaito Kid skin for Marco Polo, and a Teitan high-school costume for Yuanliu Zhizi. Tencent didn’t pull any stops when making these skins. They come with an entirely new character select animation, in-game animations, sound effects, and even the popular Case Closed theme song when you use your ultimate with Luban No. 7.
Honourable mention: Powerwash Simulator x Warhammer 40K, PUBG Mobile X Krispy Kreme
A game about power washing a neighbourhood got a collaboration with one of the darkest sci-fi franchises out there. What about a donut chain crossing over with a battle royale game? Why wait for circles to close when you can eat them instead?
Wallet killer award for best gacha banner(s): Honkai: Star Rail versions 2.6 to 3.0
By Arianne Blanco
HoYoverse knows how to milk your wallet when it comes to its gacha banners alright, and Honkai: Star Rail's insane run of banners from version 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, and even the upcoming 3.0 update is proof of that.
Back-to-back banner runs for both new and desirable rerun characters were featured, namely Feixiao, Lingsha, Kafka, Black Swan, Robin, and Topaz for version 2.5; Rappa, Imbibitor Lunae, Acheron, and Aventurine for version 2.6; Sunday, Fugue, Jing Yuan, and Firefly for version 2.7; and finally, Aglaea and The Herta for 3.0. It’s no wonder that Honkai: Star Rail has won our wallet killer award. Please slow down HoYo, my wallet needs to recover!
Honourable mention: Pokemon Pocket TCG
Ask a friend who has Pokemon Pocket TCG installed in their phone just how much they’ve shelled out for the joy of opening packets to pimp out their deck with ultra-rare cards or complete their collection, and you’ll understand why Pokemon Pocket TCG got this honourable mention. All hail in-game purchases, because saving money is for suckers.
Best wallet-friendly gacha award: TCG Card Shop Simulator
By Tommy Makmur
TCG Shop Simulator is a game where you run a shop that sells trading card games (TCG), just as its name suggests. Just like usual TCG or hobby shops, you can sell booster packs, starters, and other goodies. However, in this game, you can also open card booster packs to find a rare singular card that you can sell to your customers. Not every booster pack contains a high-value card, making this game a cross between a shop simulator and a gacha game. More importantly, you only spend the money you get from managing your shop, so you don’t need to spend real-world money on anything aside from buying the game itself – making TCG Shop Simulator the most wallet-friendly gacha game this year! Get the best of both worlds with the price of one!
P.S.: There are a ton of mods you can download in the Steam Mod section to change your card visuals.
Honourable mention: Love and Deepspace
It should come as little surprise that Love and Deepspace earned an honourable mention because of how much in-game currency you can get just by playing the game alongside the fact that players can just focus on one character without hampering their account too much. Besides, you wouldn’t want to betray your one true husbando by collecting other lads, right? Right…?
