The editorial staff here at MMORPG.com has made their decisions, and today we continue to unveil the winners of the 2009 MMORPG.com awards by naming our 2009 Game of the Year.

Coming up with a Game of the Year winner this time around was a difficult task. In the end, it came down to factors like: game growth, originality, overall contributions to the industry, fun factor, population and technological advancement and more. After much deliberation, the editorial staff at MMORPG.com has decided to hand this honor to veteran Sci-Fi MMORPG, EVE Online.

While some may question giving the GotY award to a game that originally launched in 2003, 2009 was actually a banner year for not just the game, which saw significant changes and growth through two major expansions, Apocrypha in March and Dominion in December. These two expansions significantly changed the face of the game, bringing it more in line with what players expect from a modern MMO. Between the two, the game added: Wormholes, ship customization (tier 3), Epic Mission arcs, a new New Player experience, social networking, planetary upgrades, changes to the game's sovereignty systems and more.

Read 2009 Game of the Year.

 congrats EvE :D

I think Eve is a great pick. There is so much I dislike about Eve, yet it is one of the best MMOs available. There is so much uncharted territory in this genre that needs addressing.

Good job Eve.

Having never played EVE I can still say I agree with this pick due to the way there game handles itself and the feedback given in regards to this game.  It truely is remarkable and nice to see such a game progress and last as long as it has done.

Congrats EVE and all those players and people that continuously support the game. 

 Enough is enough! Now I have to give this game a try..

Congratz EvE and its players!

Originally posted by Salvatoris

This speaks volumes about the current state of MMOs in general.  Game of the year is some old, lame, boring waste of time that not many people play or care about.  The only thing they do better than other MMOs is marketing.  I guess all the ad-space they bought here is paying off for them...

I'd say marketing is one of their worst areas. Keep in mind that us mmorpg.com members are just a drop in the bucket. The real market is out there, in the real world, not lurking forums on the internet. I think what EvE does well is being consistent. In a genre where wide sweeping changes happen to games, even to WoW, CCP has been rock steady in their development path and has always carried themselves as being dependable, reliable, and dedicated to quality. CCP knew what they wanted from EvE 2 years ago for 2009, yet Blizzard has no clue what they're doing until probably 6 months before they release the patch. At leat, that's what it seems like when they spring on various patches with features that were never discussed before with the community or the press.

Originally posted by Salvatoris

This speaks volumes about the current state of MMOs in general.  Game of the year is some old, lame, boring waste of time that not many people play or care about.  The only thing they do better than other MMOs is marketing.  I guess all the ad-space they bought here is paying off for them...

It's funny, I have this thing called AdBlocker Plus on Firefox that blocks all ads on this site. Yet I like EVE. Hmm, it must've been all the marketing they're doing even though I don't see any of their ads, right? Right.

Or maybe you're suggesting MMORPG.com was payed off? Yeah, you're not the first, and you won't be the last. Needless to say, it's a stupid theory and you just hate the game.

Good pick MMORPG.com.

Of course EVE won. It was the only logical choice.

 Couldn't agree more, our friendly sci-fi sandbox beast.

 The right game Won CCP work so hard on the game and keep giving us great expansions for free.

Very well thought out pick for this year.

As I personally did not enjoy Domination, where this game is going is undeniably epic.

Of course I totally agree with this selection, in fact, it should almost be considered as gospel.

Congrats to CCP for an honor well deserved.

(This thread's going to 39 pages.)

 I congratulate you there EvE.

But i believe it won because of the lack of competition. For me EvE wasn't that much fun, many ppl refer to it as a nicely designed database front-end and thats what it felt for me.

I thought this was a necro post ...

...yawn.

 Thats RIGHT!

EVE is the best MMO I have ever played and well deserves this award. 

*ding* grats, CCP!

(my only quibble being that they *announced* their social network this year, but haven't implemented it yet, unless I missed something? It was originally scheduled for 4th quarter 2009, but it got delayed yes?)

Shava

First best community and now this?

I hope CCP is proud.

Eve is a great game. It deserves this.

That being said, I don't think Eve have had enough competition last year. Most launches were bad (the ones I've followed anyway) and existing games just don't cut it.

The next sucessfull (smooth launch and so forth) MMORPG will steal the title this year, just you see.

 Came out in 2003 lol.

Congrats EVE!

I definitely agree with this pick, as CCP has really put a lot of hard work into this game over the past year, and above all else, they really listen to their playerbase (e.g. - Fanfest, Player Council [Council of Stellar Management], forums even surprisingly). I quit this game end of 2008 for personal reasons, but couldn't help be drawn back in mid-year 2009 because of how amazing the game is, and how much they're doing. Single Shard Universe is the way to go.

Anyone still curious about EVE, use this as a spark and sign up for a trial. Have patience for the first week or two as you learn, because this game only gets better the longer you play (unlike WoW or the like which taper off).

Congrats EVE! You deserve it!

Originally posted by Varny

 Came out in 2003 lol.

Someone didn't read their reasoning did they......

Good choice, I've come back to this game after 5 years away, fantastic.

Other games are dumbing down or making things easier EVE is adding more and more options on how you want to play and what you want to do!

True expansions rather than more of the same too