According to the article, Starfield was still nominated for best RPG… so, not really ghosted. More like they got the participation award for the unfinished, under-baked game they put out.
It would have been insulting to the other devs if they were nominated for GOTY, because Starfield isn’t even in the same league as the other nominees and Bethesda should play those to see what an actual polished game feels like.
Starfield Ghosted At The 2023 Game Awards (kotaku.com)