In light of their Oscar win for Godzilla Minis One (Animated in Maya, rendered in Redshift), Toho celebrates by releasing the Godzilla model for free:

https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/character/sci-fi-character/godzilla-minus-one-1709e986-6d7f-4690-95bf-76d0aca08a41 [www.cgtrader.com]

The BTS shows that they did it on a super low budget.

So, I think that’s why the academy gave them the nod - because of what they achieved compared to the much larger budgeted Hollywood movies.