The Best Game of 2023: Nominees
2023 has been one of the best years for video game releases in recent memory. While coming into the year we knew we’d be getting highly-anticipated sequels with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, something that defined this year was the blistering pace of great game releases, seemingly every month.
The sheer breadth of games released this year means our list of 16 standout nominees includes all kinds of games, from new titles to remakes, from RPGs to restaurant-diving-sushi-sims. And so, as the year draws to a close, we're excited to reveal our nominees for this year's IGN Awards Best Game of 2023 -- and be sure to check this space on Friday for the winner!
So many great games released in 2023 it was almost impossible to finish one before another was released. Resident Evil 4 came in March, followed by Tears of the Kingdom soon after, followed by Street Fighter 6 a few weeks after that, and so on. And then the avalanche came, including Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and Spider-Man 2.
Despite all the critical acclaim, 2023 was also one of the most difficult for games industry workers as mass layoffs impacted over 6,000 employees, and we saw the loss of historic studios like Volition. If the highs were soaring, the lows hit rock bottom, and it’s important to acknowledge that some of the games you see on our list weren’t made without cost to the people who made them.
One studio that was impacted by the volatility of the games industry this year was CD Projekt Red, which was responsible for our first nominee.
The story of CD Projekt Red’s ambitious sci-fi RPG is well-tread, but with the release of Phantom Liberty it’s hard to overstate just how far this well-liked
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