Honestly, I think GTAV is game of the generation

I don't think many were certain. But for the ones who were, I'm going to go ahead and assume its because they thought it was the best game of the year.

GTA V won a bunch of GoTY's though, so it's not like anyone is wrong.

It did technically win VGX which a lot of people argue is the "official" game of the year (which I think is bs)

yup last year the competition was pretty pitiful. Though Walking Dead was a great game for what it was.

Anyway some people probably thought GTA would win because publications on average gave Grand Theft Auto a higher score than Last of Us. So it would make sense that that means they prefer GTA. Pretty simple stuff. Then again Fallout 3 won the most GOTY awards and beat Grand Theft Auto 4 in 2008. Something about huge blockbusters is just a turn off for game of the year awards I guess. Also the fact that reviews are often by a lone person while GOTY choices are often picked by everyone collaberating. 

TLOU might be the best game ever made. Gaming wasn't serious until TLOU and it will forever change the medium.

For me it was the content, the polish, the story, the characters, and most of all the fun. The last of Us is an excellent game and experience but not something I would call fun/relaxing.

High expectations. All you have to do is see how some of them reacted before they even got their hands on the game:

http://systemwarsmagazine.com/2013/09/16/report-gamespot-reviewer-gives-gta-v-a-generous-score-readers-want-her-fired/

Perhaps we'll see a petition to get the awards operators fired, too?

GTA fans think GTA is the be all end all. Good series yes, but not as good as they want to believe. Over confidence is never a good thing.,

The games are great, but overrated since GTA IV got a 98 on meta (while it deserved probably a 90-92) and GTA V is more like a 92-94 game. Why? Both of them aren't as good as San Andreas. That was the pinnacle of GTA, the sheer size and variety of the city. GTA IV city is bland and, while GTA V one is huge, you only have Los Santos and some minor regions with few people. GTA SA was when you could leave Los Santos, ride a long way and go to Las Venturas, a completely different place.