The Game Awards 2023

Games
1

Last year’s Game Award thread is here.

When I saw some game news sites with the list of nominees, I thought, oh hey, lets find the game awards website or something and find the source. I should have known that they’d do the nominees in Video form!

Courtesy of a Eurogamer story here, here’s a written list instead:

Nominees 2023

The full list of nominees lies below:

Game of the Year

  • Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
  • Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Game Direction

  • Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
  • Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2(Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Narrative

  • Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
  • Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
  • Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
  • Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)

Best Art Direction

  • Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
  • Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
  • Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Score and Music

  • Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
  • Baldur’s Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
  • Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
  • Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Audio Design

  • Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
  • Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)
  • Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

Best Performance

  • Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
  • Cameron Monaghan, STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor
  • Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
  • Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
  • Neil Newbon, Baldur’s Gate 3
  • Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Innovation in Accessibility

  • Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
  • Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
  • Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Games for Impact

  • A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus)
  • Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)
  • Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
  • Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive)
  • Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix)
  • Venba (Visai Games)

Best Ongoing Game

  • Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
  • Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
  • Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
  • Fortnite (Epic Games)
  • Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Best Community Support

  • Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
  • Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
  • Destiny 2 (Bungie)
  • Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
  • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Independent Game

  • Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
  • Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)
  • Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
  • Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
  • Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Debut Indie Game

  • Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
  • Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
  • Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
  • Venba (Visai Games)
  • Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Mobile Game

  • Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)
  • Honkai: Star Rail (HoYoverse)
  • Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
  • Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)
  • Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver/Netflix)

Best VR/AR Game

  • Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
  • Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)
  • Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/Firesprite/SIE)
  • Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
  • Synapse (nDreams)

Best Action Game

  • Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
  • Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)
  • Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)
  • Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
  • Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)

Best Action/Adventure Game

  • Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
  • Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
  • Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best RPG

  • Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
  • Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
  • Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
  • Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
  • Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

Best Fighting Game

  • God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games)
  • Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
  • Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment)
  • Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube)
  • Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Best Family Game

  • Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney)
  • Party Animals (Recreate Games)
  • Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
  • Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega)
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Sim/Strategy Game

  • Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward/Nintendo)
  • Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order/Paradox Interactive)
  • Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment/Sega)
  • Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
  • Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Sports/Racing

  • EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
  • F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
  • Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
  • Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
  • The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)

Best Multiplayer Presented by Discord

  • Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
  • Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
  • Party Animals (Recreate Games)
  • Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Adaptation

  • Castlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation/Netflix)
  • Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
  • The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO)
  • The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination/Nintendo/Universal Pictures)
  • Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions/Peacock)

Most Anticipated Game

  • Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
  • Hades II (Supergiant Games)
  • Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
  • Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
  • Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco/Arika)

Content Creator of the Year

  • IronMouse
  • PeopleMakeGames
  • Quackity
  • Spreen
  • SypherPK

Best Esports Game

  • Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
  • Dota 2 (Valve)
  • League of Legends (Riot Games)
  • PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)
  • Valorant (Riot Games)

Best Esports Athlete

  • Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends)
  • Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut (CS:GO)
  • Max “Demon1” Mazanov (Valorant)
  • Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez (Call of Duty)
  • Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk (League of Legends)
  • Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen (Apex Legends)

Best Esports Team

  • Evil Geniuses (Valorant)
  • Fnatic (Valorant)
  • Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
  • JD Gaming (League of Legends)
  • Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)

Best Esports Coach

  • Christine “potter” Chi (Evil Geniuses - Valorant)
  • Danny “zonic” Sorensen (Team Falcons - Counter-Strike)
  • Jordan “Gunba” Graham (Florida Mayhem - Overwatch)
  • Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (Team Vitality - Counter-Strike)
  • Yoon “Homme” Sung-young (JD Gaming - League of Legends)

Best Esports Event

  • 2023 League of Legends World Championship
  • Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
  • EVO 2023
  • The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
  • VALORANT Champions 2023
2

what?

3

Starfield got pretty much shut out. Only one nomination.

For me, that’s one nom too many.

4

They should just give it a “lifetime achievement award” not put it in “RPG”.

5

The sim/strategy nominees are so weird. I wouldn’t vote for any of them. And the last 6 categories mean nothing for me, though I’ll probably vote for EVO on the last one.

6

Also, Destiny 2 for Best Community Support has got to sting now.

7

Starfield and Diablo 4 are both practically absent. Some small noms they won’t win. Microsoft must be pissed.

8

I’m imagining something like this:

9

I mean, how do the games get nominated? It seems weird to me to see some games that have been out a month or less get GOTY noms, as if anyone’s had enough time to really mull over their quality

10

It’s a neat game and all, but if I’m the other four nominees here I’m giving some serious side-eye to Dave the Diver being included in this category. I guess if the category is more indie by vibes than in fact, it might be okay, or if the committee voting on it don’t know what Nexon is.

11

They uh… have too many categories.

12

It bothers me that Super Mario Wonder got nominated for GOTY instead of Pikmin 4. Pikmin 4 is so much better! But I guess the two games are different enough genres that it is hard to compare them. But I think Pikmin 4 is the real superstar from Nintendo this year, not Wonder. (Though, Zelda should likely win the category either way, if the new game is as good or better than Breath of the Wild).

13

That’s one of several reasons why I find these awards hard to take seriously. Wonder’s been out for less than a month, which doesn’t seem like enough time to mull it over long enough to consider whether it’s GOTY material.

It seems it is on the list because, as a new Mario game, it basically has to be. Nevermind the fact that the only thing stopping Nintendo from winning GOTY (via Tears of the Kingdom) is maybe Baldur’s Gate 3.

TL:DR it doesn’t need to be nominated, but of course it will be.

14

It’s been a pretty incredible year for games I think. Polygon keeps a nice ongoing GOTY list that they add to, which is a nice way to do it, I think. A good way to fight recency bias,

There’s some on that list I haven’t played yet or even heard about, but I should check them out.

15

Happy to see Wo Long and Octopath Traveller 2 are on that list. But there are a few big games missing. I can understand Starfield not being there, and since it’s Polygon I kind of expected Hogwarts Legacy wouldn’t be there, but seeing Company of Heroes 3 there and Hi-Fi Rush nowhere to be found is… weird.

16

Well, check the date on the article.

17

That’s no excuse. It has the latest games on there too, including Alan Wake 2. They update it throughout the year, like I said, by adding games to it. I’m also surprised they didn’t add Hifi Rush, but it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. Like Starfield, which I also love.

18

Hi, fellow gamer of questionable taste!

19

Why is Cyberpunk considered for the “Best Ongoing Game” category? Does this mean any game that releases a DLC is “Ongoing” or any game that comes up with a good patch is “Ongoing.” I would have thought that the category would mean either an MMO or a Live Service game.

Also a bit surprised to see Cities Skyline 2 on the list, since from what I’ve seen most people think that a good game might be in there someday but it was released way too early and definitely needs more work.

20

One thing I’ve learned in the last few days is that Starfield continues to be roasted by the Greater Internet Gaming world. To the point where I’ve seen folks actively pleased to see it lacking in nominations.

Personally, I can get not liking a game, but rooting for it to fail at the Game Awards would be silly if the Game Awards weren’t already pretty silly.