PC Gamer's Game of the Year Awards Discussion (2023)

[ZedClampet]

PC Gamer's Game of the Year Awards 2023

In a year full of surprises and disappointments, these were the best games of the last 12 months.

www.pcgamer.com

So far:

The Awards​

Best Ongoing Game: Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
Best Stealth: Shadow Gambit – The Cursed Crew
Best Remake: Revealed December 20
Best Fighting Game: Revealed December 21
Best Action: Revealed December 22
Best Open World: Revealed December 23
Best Setting: Revealed December 24
Best Design: Revealed December 25
Best Shooter: Revealed December 26
Best Adventure: Revealed December 27
Best Story: Revealed December 28
Best Expansion: Revealed December 29
Game of the Year: Revealed December 30

Personal Picks​

Robin Valentine: Viewfinder
Tyler Colp: Honkai: Star Rail
Fraser Brown: Age of Wonders 4
Tyler Wilde: Undisputed

 

[ZedClampet]

I'm glad to see Warhammer 40k Darktide apparently improving and getting some love. The gameplay was great from day 1. They just didn't put everything else into the game. But apparently they've been working on it ever since, and it's in a good spot right now. May be time for me to jump back into it. I'm not that excited, though, because I'm sure you still can't run a solo mission.

Edit: per Copilot,
As of now, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide does not officially support solo missions with bots. The developers have stated that this feature is not currently on their priority list. However, some players have found ways to play solo with bots using mods, but this method may not provide the same experience as an official feature would. Please note that using mods might not be in compliance with the game’s terms of service, so proceed with caution.

Oh, it's definitely not in compliance because Fatshark are the most annoying devs I can think of. You always do everything the way Fatshark wants. What the player wants is inconsequential.

 

[Brian Boru]

Interesting, no 'Best RPG'—is PCG trying to up the tone of the place?

Interesting, no 'Best Strategy'—is PCG trying to down the tone of the place?

There are at least 4 genre awards, why not others?

 

[ZedClampet]

Interesting, no 'Best RPG'—is PCG trying to up the tone of the place?

Interesting, no 'Best Strategy'—is PCG trying to down the tone of the place?

There are at least 4 genre awards, why not others?

Best I can figure is that RPG is left out because BG3 is getting Game of the Year. I don't know about strategy. Maybe they didn't think there were any good ones.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Maybe they decided the terms are too general. Half of RPG's are also strategy games, as well as text based adventure games with dice rolls and action games with RPG mechanics.

For strategy you'd have Cities Skylines 2 vs Tactics Ogre Reborn, too catch all.

 

[Brian Boru]

about strategy. Maybe they didn't think there were any good ones

Maybe, there weren't many big ones from top studios. But they liked Age of Wonders 4, Jagged Alliance 3, and Company of Heroes 3 as a minimum.

too general … too catch all

But you have Action in there, probably the 'widest' genre of all.

Anyway, no biggie, it's just a list

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

But you have Action in there, probably the 'widest' genre of all.

Anyway, no biggie, it's just a list

Yea thats true. I'd say that Action is a narrower range than RPG at this stage, RPG's range from text adventures to Assassins Creed style open world games. Genre arguments are mostly subjective though.

PC Gamer's Game of the Year Awards 2023

In a year full of surprises and disappointments, these were the best games of the last 12 months.

www.pcgamer.com

Hadnt really looked at the whole list before, where would you even put a City Builder, Grand Strategy or 4X game in these categories? They would be eligible for a few general categories but doesnt have its own niche where its not up against totally different games.

Might be they just collect a list from staff of games theyd like to award and then make up categories based off what they have to discuss/argue about. Dont know.

 

[Pifanjr]

Yea thats true. I'd say that Action is a narrower range than RPG at this stage, RPG's range from text adventures to Assassins Creed style open world games. Genre arguments are mostly subjective though.

PC Gamer's Game of the Year Awards 2023

In a year full of surprises and disappointments, these were the best games of the last 12 months.

www.pcgamer.com

Hadnt really looked at the whole list before, where would you even put a City Builder, Grand Strategy or 4X game in these categories? They would be eligible for a few general categories but doesnt have its own niche where its not up against totally different games.

Might be they just collect a list from staff of games theyd like to award and then make up categories based off what they have to discuss/argue about. Dont know.

I read an article a while ago about how difficult it is to come up with proper award categories. I'm not sure if it was from PCGamer (I looked but didn't find it), but the general idea was that it's really hard to come up with categories that make sense and that aren't too narrow (because why have a category where only one or two games are serious nominations) or too broad (because then it's just GOTY-Lite).

 

[WoodenSaucer]

It's pretty wild how much different PC Gamer's picks are going compared to the rest of the gaming world. I know they haven't revealed much yet, though. And I also know it has to be things that are on PC. But everywhere else, I'm seeing a lot of Baldur's Gate 3, Tears of the Kingdom, Lies of P, and Alan Wake 2.

One thing we're not seeing anywhere is Starfield, though. It's catching a lot of flack, but I'm having a lot of fun with it.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I read an article a while ago about how difficult it is to come up with proper award categories. I'm not sure if it was from PCGamer (I looked but didn't find it), but the general idea was that it's really hard to come up with categories that make sense and that aren't too narrow (because why have a category where only one or two games are serious nominations) or too broad (because then it's just GOTY-Lite)

I can believe it, thats why I wondered if they went for a 'game first' approach and thought of categories where theyd have soemthing to debate. Could explain the lack of strategy categories too, maybe none of the team had much like that on their list.

It's pretty wild how much different PC Gamer's picks are going compared to the rest of the gaming world. I know they haven't revealed much yet, though. And I also know it has to be things that are on PC. But everywhere else, I'm seeing a lot of Baldur's Gate 3, Tears of the Kingdom, Lies of P, and Alan Wake 2.

One thing we're not seeing anywhere is Starfield, though. It's catching a lot of flack, but I'm having a lot of fun with it.

I'm 100% theyll have Alan Wake 2 and BG3 somewhere but we wont find out until 30/12, Lies of P and Starfield both only got about 75 from PCG so less likely. TOTK on Switch so not much chance.

 

[Zloth]

I can believe it, thats why I wondered if they went for a 'game first' approach and thought of categories where theyd have soemthing to debate.

I remember them making up categories before to make sure a game that made a big, positive splash got on the list somewhere. For instance, if they felt Dave the Diver deserved something but it didn't make sense in any of the traditional categories, they would make up a category like "Best Pseudo-Indy game" or "Best Exploration/Cooking game" or "best game design".

 

[PCG Jody]

Might be they just collect a list from staff of games theyd like to award and then make up categories based off what they have to discuss/argue about. Dont know.

This is exactly it, same as previous years. As the introduction in the linked article explains, "Once we choose the games, we assign each an award category to fit it. This is why the categories are slightly different each year."

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

This is exactly it, same as previous years. As the introduction in the linked article explains, "Once we choose the games, we assign each an award category to fit it. This is why the categories are slightly different each year."

MY POWERS OF DEDUCTIO..... Oh yea says it in the article, ta.

 

[Colif]

still waiting on a good one, they have 8 days left... it might happen

 

[ZedClampet]

Lethal Company is a viral hit in no small part thanks to all the intense shouting

It's the loud reactions that make this game so entertaining; it's a thrill to play it with friends or watch endless clips on TikTok.

www.pcgamer.com

Won someone's personal pick. Has some good (and very short) video clips if you've never seen the game.

It would appear Steam's GOTY contest is probably down to this and BG3. You know I'm pulling for Lethal Company to get the win I can't think of any game that comes close in pure adrenaline and excitement.

 

[ZedClampet]

Best Shooter 2023: Remnant 2

Gunfire Games' subversive sequel was our favourite shooter of the year.

www.pcgamer.com