Like it or not, DLC as a practice continues to thrive. On the one hand, it’s not so bad – it helps cover the absurdly high costs of developing games in this day and age. In some ways, it also affords some developers a chance to significantly expand on their original releases in new ways with interesting new stories, characters, items, locations and much more. In other ways, it’s a shameful cash-in that seems to prey on an audience starving for more of that digital crack. Our list of nominees for best expansion pack/DLC will only focus on the good side of additional digital content but which one really set the bar for this year? It wasn’t an easy decision but thankfully that means more than a few good choices for expanding on the games you’ve already played.

Nominees:

• The Old Hunters – Bloodborne
• Wild Run – The Crew
• The Taken King – Destiny
• Hearts of Stone – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• DLC Pack 2 – Mario Kart 8
• The Consequence – The Evil Within

Winner: The Old Hunters – Bloodborne

Bloodborne was already a great game for the year, if not one for the past several years. The Old Hunters doesn’t change up the formula that made the game great as much as it expands it. There are new challenges to be had in the Hunter’s Nightmare with three new environments and they’re no less daunting than before. That being said, with an array of new toys – from bows and arrows to giant snakes – The Old Hunters makes encounters even more fun and diverse than before. Lore hounds will find the same cryptic story-telling and mystery that make From Software’s games so great. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the mood for a romp of killing or just want to get lost in the darker recesses of Yharnam – Bloodborne’s The Old Hunters has you covered from every possible violent angle.

Note: GamingBolt’s Game of the Year categories, nominations and awards are selected via an internal nomination, voting and debate process. You can check the rest of categories and the respective winners here.