While it’s always interesting to see what gets nominated at The Game Awards every year, the closest thing we have to video game Oscars, 2023 is different.
This year is widely considered to be one of the best years for video game releases…ever. Possible in two decades or so at least, given the scope and quality of games that have been released. It’s been difficult to go more than a few weeks without some new potential GOTY contender emerging. And it feels like games that might have won in other years may not even be nominated at all in 2023, that’s how steep the competition was.
The Game Awards’ Geoff Keighley said that no, the category would not expand past six games this year despite the intense competition, and we now have our six nominees based on the wide media pool asked for their choices. And it goes without saying there may be a few games you thought would be sure things that have been left off the list completely. We have:
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Alan Wake 2
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Super Mario Wonder
- Resident Evil 4
It is, of course, beyond expected that both The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Baldur’s Gate 3 are nominated. Tears with the frontrunner in the first half of the year, but then Baldur’s Gate 3 came and even in a tough year, it has felt like GOTY has been its to lose. Given the critic pool here, I am also not shocked to see Alan Wake 2 on here, and it could be a dark horse winner, which is more likely than Tears, I’d say, at this point, given who is voting.
The other three slots were always up in the air and probably could have been 9-10 different games. Instead we have Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Wonder and Resident Evil 4. I cannot say that I am shocked about any of these, though obviously there are a number of high profile games left out here. Given the reception to Mario Wonder, it’s not a stretch that both it and Zelda would be nominated. Spider-Man was a wide-reaching, accessible hit and probably the most “mainstream” game on the whole list here. Peter Parker himself, Yuri Lowenthal, also got a Best Performance nomination. I am a bit surprised Resident Evil 4 landed here as a remake, but obviously it was excellent.
So, what didn’t make the cut? Final Fantasy XVI which could be the most surprising. Street Fighter 6 with its ultra high review scores. No indie game representation like Hi-Fi Rush or Sea of Stars. Xbox’s big hit Starfield did not land a spot, kind of wild for a mainline Bethesda game, and I’m sure a disappointment to them. Hogwarts Legacy of course wasn’t going to get one despite potentially being the best-selling game of the year and well-liked by fans.
Honestly, I think any of those games subbing in for any of the existing six probably would have been more controversial than the original list. So even in a year like this, I am not all that surprised with the final selections. I still expect Baldur’s Gate 3 to win out of this group, but Alan Wake could win something like Narrative or Direction, perhaps.
The full nominee list is here if you want to look, and you’ll find some missing games in other categories, of course. The show is December 7
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