At the end of the day, our readers and our staff were almost 100% in line with their top picks on awards this year, with Sports Game of the Year being no different. OS readers cast their ballots over about 10 days right before the end of the New Year, and this is the reveal of the final vote.
Here is who took the podium:
Gold - NBA 2K15
Despite the amount of vitriol about 2K Sports’ attempts at basketball near its broken launch,
NBA 2K15’s on-court gameplay, superior presentation, and fun modes has a lot of OS’ers hooked. There’s not much more you can say about 2K15 winning except that it was by a large margin over the rest of the field in the voting, which was actually fairly surprising.
Silver - MLB 14 The Show
The OS readers also agree with the staff’s silver medalist,
MLB 14 The Show. The Show’s quick counts, dynamic difficulty, and the ability to take your save files with you into next year’s game are obvious selling points. The Show also saw a wide gap between its vote total and the Bronze medalist.
Bronze - FIFA 15
It was interesting that our staff’s Sports Game of the Year last year didn’t even podium despite a strong effort, and readers only gave it a bronze. That does likely speak to the quality of the genre as a whole, despite perceptions otherwise.
FIFA 15 brought stellar gameplay and presentation, a full suite of Premier league stadiums and teams, and great modes to keep gamers busy. It’s likely the fact soccer isn’t the most traditional American sport hurts FIFA in these votes, but the best-selling sports title is well deserving of any of the spots on this list.
What do you think of your picks for sports game of the year? Sound off with a comment and your top three list!