The Best Game of 2023

IGN staff has voted we've officially chosen our choice for the Best Game of 2023. From 16 nominees to one winner, check out which game won our Game of the Year as well as the worthy runner-ups that came close to beating out our first choice pick during the voting.

[graznardolillo]

The fact that they achieved this on such old tech is a feat of its own.

[NowAndToEternity]

Any year that Zelda, Mario and Larian release a new game, it is gonna be one of the best year of gaming PERIOD. Example: 2017: Breath of the wild, Mario Odessey, Divinity Original sins 2; 2023: Tears of the Kingdom, Mario Wonders, Baldur Gate 3.

[marcos.bastos]

Man this year was really stacked with amazing games.

[dougmalcolm]

10 million copies sold in 3 days for a reason.

[TheGoncas]

Fair. The amount of content in this game is incredible.

[WGK]

Im glad you didnt just include Starfield on the nominated list like everyone else. It shouldnt be in the same coversation as BG3/TOTK etc

[bhavyachoudhary]

Spiderman 2 coudn't even win the ign game awards 💀

[justinlowery]

Even after playing through so many other great titles this year, TOTK takes the cake for me as well. It's just a uniquely beautiful masterpiece in every way. Well deserved win!

[Yungbeck]

Looking back at 2023 will show it was one hell of a year for gamers!

[creamshiplive]

TOTK so well deserved, the building mechanics alone and the way those systems interact are insane.

[mannofsociety]

Baldur’s Gate 3 won TGA 2023 GOTY while TOTK won IGN’s Best Game of 2023

In the words of a mad titan named Thanos, “Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.”

[MightyManotaur]

What an insane year for games. All of the entries on here are super worthy, and that doesn't even include Hi-Fi Rush, Cocoon, Viewfinder, Dead Space, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, Super Mario Wonder, Hogwarts Legacy, and Spider-Man 2!

[Noblemumin]

TOTK is my personal GOTY as well. But boy this year had many incredible titles each worthy of GOTY titles too.

[lipe]

Tear of the kingdom is simply beautiful

[Mety]

2 amazing gamecube remakes in 1 year, Metroid Prime Remastered and Resident Evil 4, and yet RE 4 mentioned everywhere while the godly Metroid Prime Remake is never shown. mainstream bias

[ProjectAlfaGaming]

Kinda sad that Alan Wake 2 didn’t win any GOTY awards, visually and writing wise, it’s one of the most impressive games I’ve played in a long time.

[karlalexandregarcia]

Can’t agree more! People forgot how amazing this game was way too early in the year. Great to see it get the recognition it deserves!

[takashiowo]

This is the best, TOTK is the best, is very well deserved

[firehousesubs]

The fact that major game developers shiat on BG3 and told their fan bases not to expect that type work and dedication within their own games goes to show you BG3 is the true game of the year, and possibly the past decade.

[Gaspar]

If BG3 and TotK release dates were swapped around, there would have been less contention on which one should win. Recency bias is a real thing. TotK blew everyone’s mind when it came out.