This is like saying you can’t submit your art piece just because you used different brushes or a different medium. The truth is some games perform better when you make them exclusive. If devs tried to make games for ALL platforms you’re gonna have A LOT of fixes needed in order to optimize one game across multiple platforms. Don’t look at it as a pay wall. Look at it as devs being able to make a fleshed out game that’s not broken on release.

Ya know that’s honestly a great and interesting take

The award is based on the quality of the game. Why would how it’s played have any role in that decision? That would be like disqualifying the Burj Khalifa as the tallest building in the world because it costs too much to get a plane ticket to go there. Nonsensical.