Shroud says Arc Raiders would have beaten Expedition 33 at Game Awards if it released sooner

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Shroud still believes ARC Raiders would have won Game of the Year, even after enjoying and highlighting Expedition 33. He feels the only thing that held ARC Raiders back was its release timing.

Arc Raiders launched on October 30, 2025, and quickly gained a lot of positive attention, similar to popular multiplayer games like Fortnite and Apex Legends. Remarkably, after almost three months, the game has still kept most of its players – something that’s uncommon in the fast-paced world of video games today.

Shroud, like many other streamers, quickly became a fan of the new extraction shooter. He enthusiastically predicted the game, Arc Raider, would win awards, but it surprisingly wasn’t nominated at the 2025 Game Awards.

Shroud believes ARC Raiders had a strong chance of winning Game of the Year if it had been released earlier in the summer.

— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) January 13, 2026

Streamer Shroud faced backlash from fans of 2025 Game of the Year winner, Expedition 33, after he commented on Arc Raiders not receiving a nomination. He had previously criticized the Game Awards, claiming multiplayer games were unfairly judged against single-player games.

Shroud doubles down on Arc Raiders GOTY claims

Shroud, after trying out Expedition 33, was impressed with how well-made the game is. However, he recently explained that ARC Raiders didn’t succeed because of bad timing, not because of problems with how it played, even though Expedition 33 won Game of the Year.

Shroud mentioned on his stream that ARC Raiders came out too late in the year to get much consideration for major gaming awards, as voters didn’t have enough time to play and evaluate it.

He explained that the game was released very close to the deadline for award nominations. He thinks if it had come out earlier in the year, it would have definitely won. However, he believes three or four weeks isn’t enough time for people to fully appreciate how good the game is.

He believes games released later in the year always start at a disadvantage, no matter how good they are. It’s especially difficult for them to compete with games that have had months to build up positive reviews and opinions.

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2026-01-14 00:48