Game of the Year 1990
2 games, level
2 games tied on 1 award
No game leads 1990. Strider and Dragon Quest IV each took 1 of the 2 awards we can source for this season. With a field this small a tie is not a close race, it is the absence of a result.
Partial season.
Our census begins in 2003. For 1990 we list only the awards we could source one at a time, so this is a record that these awards happened — not a count of how many were given. It must not be compared with a tracked season; see the methodology.
Quick answers
Who won Game of the Year 1990?
No single game. Strider and Dragon Quest IV finished level on 1 award each, so the 1990 season has no winner on this site. The season is only partly documented, so this is a record of surviving awards, not a full count.
How many Game of the Year awards were given in 1990?
This site documents 2 Game of the Year awards for 1990, from 2 outlets in 2 countries. It is a documented minimum: every award has a source, and awards nobody recorded are not in it.
Major ceremonies 1990
No ceremony pick for 1990 is on record in a form this site can cite, so none is shown.
Best game of 1990, by every award
Every game that won at least one Game of the Year award in 1990, ranked by wins.
Who voted for what
All 2 tracked awards for 1990, from 2 countries. 0 were readers' or community votes. Tap a column heading to sort.
| Media outlet | Country | Their GOTY |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) | United States | Strider |
| Famitsu | Japan | Dragon Quest IV |
Updated 2 October 2026 · Source: the Meta Awards database, where every award row cites where it was published.