Baldur's Gate 3 led the show with nine nominations and six wins, includingGame of the Year and Best Performance forNeil Newbon. Several new games were announced during the show, includingMarvel's Blade,Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, andVisions of Mana. The show was viewed by over 118 million streams, the most in its history to date,[a] with more than 17,000 co-streams from content creators. Journalists criticized the show for prioritizing announcements and celebrities over awards, and its lack of acknowledgement ofindustry layoffs and the ongoingGaza humanitarian crisis.
As with previous iterations ofthe Game Awards, the 2023 show was hosted and produced by Canadian games journalistGeoff Keighley.[2] He returned as an executive producer alongside Kimmie Kim, and Richard Preuss and LeRoy Bennett returned as director and creative director, respectively.[3] Sydnee Goodman returned as host of the 30-minute preshow, titled Opening Act.[4] The presentation took place at thePeacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, on December 7, 2023,[2] and waslive streamed across more than 30 online platforms globally, includingFacebook,Instagram,Steam,TikTok,Twitch,X, andYouTube.[5][6]
Public tickets became available for purchase on November 6,[3] and sold out within a week,[7] quicker than any previous year.[8] The show increased security following stage interruptions atthe previous ceremony in December 2022 andGamescom'sOpening Night Live in August 2023.[9] Keighley said the show and preshow aimed for a collective three-hour runtime, like its predecessor.[4] The Game Awards 2023 was the fourth show to feature Future Class, a list of 50 individuals from across the video game industry who best represent its future, organized by Keighley and Emily Bouchac. The list was announced on December 5, featuring individuals likeMarvel's Midnight Suns writer Emma Kidwell,The Sims 4 experience design lead Alister Lee, and accessibility consultantRoss Minor.[10][11]
According to Keighley, the show avoided the term "world premiere" for new announcements, instead treating all content equally.[9] Announcements on both released and upcoming games were made for:[12][13]
Nominees were announced on November 13, 2023.[14] Any game released for public consumption on or before November 17 was eligible for consideration. The nominees were compiled by a jury panel composed of members from over 100 media outlets globally. Specialized juries decided the nominees for categories such as accessibility, adaptation, andesports.[15] Winners were determined between the jury (90 percent) and public voting (10 percent); the latter was held via the official website andDiscord server[b] until December 6.[16][17] The exception is the Players' Voice award, fully nominated and voted-on by the public, for which voting opened on November 27.[18] According to Keighley, first-day website voting saw a 73% increase over the previous year.[8]
The Game Awards partnered with Nighttimes and Studio 568 to create an in-game hub world inFortnite, available from November 14, allowing players to vote for their favorite user-created islands among ten nominees; the winner was announced during the ceremony. Keighley had been seeking to create more in-game events since hosting a live show inFortnite in 2019,[19][20] and sought to allow in-game live viewership of the show in the future. He felt it was a more effective advertising technique for the show than traditional marketing likebillboards.[8] According to Keighley, the hub world surpassed one million plays within three days, with more than 875,000 unique players.[21]
Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam of Team Vitality requested the removal of his Best Esports Coach nomination as he had not coached any professional games in 2023.[25][26]
Geoff Keighley (top) hosted the main show while Sydnee Goodman (bottom) hosted the preshow.[4]
The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or introduced trailers. All other awards were presented by Keighley or Goodman.[30][31][32]
The following individuals or groups performed musical numbers.[30][36][37]Pedro Eustache, who became known as "Flute Guy" during the 2022 ceremony, returned to perform as part of the Game Awards Orchestra.[38]
Some journalists were surprised byCyberpunk 2077's four nominations—twice as many as its original nominations in2021—particularly due to the game'stroubled launch.[40][41] Many consideredDestiny 2's Best Community Support nomination poorly timed, coming weeks after layoffs at developerBungie, including much of its community team.[42][43][44] Journalists felt several performances were overlooked and suggested Best Performance be split to consider leading and supporting performances to widen its scope.[45][46][47]TheGamer's Stacey Henley foundPizza Tower's nomination for Best Debut Indie Game but not Best Independent Game incongruous.[48]
The absence of nominations forChained Echoes was highlighted as a flaw in the eligibility period for games released the preceding December;[49][50] some writers opined the show had arecency bias, with half the Game of the Year nominees released in October.[45][51] Many reporters and players highlighted the sole nomination forStarfield, ablockbuster game from a reputable developer,[27][40][52] though some found it appropriate due to the game's lesser quality compared to its competition.[51][53] The lack of nominations forHogwarts Legacy was similarly highlighted, with some citingthe game's divisiveness as a possible reason,[40][54] though others felt it was due to its relative quality.[50][55][56] Some lamented the omission ofOctopath Traveler 2,[40][57][58] and others feltFinal Fantasy XVI was snubbed aGame of the Year nomination.[50][59]
Several journalists and viewers expressed confusion atDave the Diver's Best Independent Game nomination as its developer, Mintrocket, is a subsidiary of the larger companyNexon, which previously claimed the game was "not necessarily" anindie;[45][48]TheGamer's Henley wrote thatBaldur's Gate 3 was "technically an entirely independent game" but was likely not considered eligible due to developer Larian Studios's employee count and use of an existing intellectual property.[48] In response, Keighley said "independent can mean different things to different people" and opted to allow the jury to decide the final selections.[60]TheGamer's Jade King called Games for Impact "a locker to stuff all the diverse games into", with four of its six nominees not receiving any other nominations, and felt it was typically limited to independent games despite others fitting the criteria.[61]
Before the ceremony, more than 3,000 game industry members, including 79 previous Future Class recipients[62]—more than half of the 150 members to date[63]—signed an open letter calling for a statement to be read during the show addressing the ongoingGaza humanitarian crisis, supporting the rights ofPalestinians and calling for aceasefire, and asking the industry to address the dehumanization of people fromSouth West Asia and North Africa and their portrayal as villains or terrorists in games. The letter's author, 2021 Future Class recipient Younès Rabii, said it was motivated byMeg Jayanth's withdrawal as a presenter at theGolden Joystick Awards in October after being barred from making a statement about Palestinians.[64][65][66]The Mary Sue's Ana Valens bemoaned the show's lack of response[67] andPaste's Garrett Martin criticized it as "cowardly".[62]Rock Paper Shotgun's Alice Bell felt the show only would have voiced support if it "was a profitable stance rather than a moral one".[68] After the ceremony, developers of nomineesGoodbye Volcano High andVenba said they had planned to acknowledge the crisis in their acceptance speeches.[1] Keighley spoke with Future Class members after the show; some members felt he was deflective and unprepared, while others found the meeting productive and hopeful.[69][70] Members gave a presentation to Keighley and Bouchac in December about their negative experiences at the show and lack of resources and opportunities throughout the year; some felt their complaints were taken seriously and that the program consequently improved.[11]
The ceremony was criticized for prioritizing announcements and celebrity guests over nominees and winners.[71][74][75] Some journalists felt this was represented by actorTimothée Chalamet presenting Game of the Year instead of a game developer.[63][71]Obsidian Entertainment directorJosh Sawyer called the show "an embarrassing indictment of a segment of the industry desperate for validation via star power with little respect for the devs it's supposedly honoring".[1]Eurogamer's Chris Tapsell felt future ceremonies should mirror the goals of its own industry rather than seek validation and relevance from others.[63]Video Games Chronicle's Andy Robinson empathized with the production team's challenges and considered the show among the best to date but felt it suffered from runtime and curation problems.[76]VentureBeat'sDean Takahashi felt the show "lived up to the reputation of being ... theOscars of gaming".[77] Some commentators considered highlights includedOld Gods of Asgard's performance[72][78][79] andAbubakar Salim announcingTales of Kenzera: Zau in memory of his late father.[75][72][80]
Journalists found it disrespectful that celebrity guests were given several minutes to speak—including more than six minutes forHideo Kojima andJordan Peele[81]—while winners were allocated thirty seconds before being prompted to "wrap it up" and cut off by music,[1][68][82] and others were relegated to the preshow or announced in quick succession without acceptance speeches.[75][74][72]The Escapist's Liam Nolan calculated that winners' speeches cumulatively ran for less than 11 minutes, compared to theAcademy Awards's 30-minute average.[83] Commentators cited Best Performance winnerNeil Newbon being cut off while talking about players' heartfelt responses to his work, and Game of the Year accepteeSwen Vincke while paying tribute to his deceased colleague,[1][72][73] and found it disrespectful considering several acceptees speakEnglish as a second language.[71][84][85] Keighley said he asked his team to relax the rule during the show and acknowledged it would be addressed in the future.[1]GameSpot andIGN published speeches from winners who were unable to accept at the show.[86][87]
The show was picketed by pro-worker protestors advocating for unionization.[72][88][89]
Critics bemoaned the show's lack of acknowledgement ofthe video game industry's mass layoffs;[1][90][84]VentureBeat's Rachel Kaser found it particularly disappointing considering the show's focus on film and television industry professionals,[91] andThe Verge's Ash Parrish wrote that "Keighley let video game developers down".[90]Dot Esports's Issy van der Velde called it "disappointing but not entirely unexpected" based on the show's history of avoiding acknowledgment.[92]Game Developer's Chris Kerr criticized Keighley's opening speech for calling for unity but failing to address layoffs, and felt the show should spend "less time chasing a hollow sense of legitimacy by curating a showcase that has the cultural awareness and humanity of a shamelessSuper Bowl ad".[93] The ceremony was picketed by pro-worker protestors advocating for unionization, including members of the Game Workers of Southern California andSAG-AFTRA;[72][88][89] one picket sign read "best year for games, worst year for game workers".[93]
SomeCall of Duty developers criticized presenterChristopher Judge's joke that his 2022 acceptance speech was lengthier thanCall of Duty: Modern Warfare III's (2023) single-player story campaign.[94][95][96] Current and former developers countered by citingCall of Duty's higher commercial success, though some deleted their responses and said they respectedGod of War, in which Judge portraysKratos.[97][98]Barry Sloane, who portraysModern Warfare's Captain Price, similarly criticized Judge's joke but later wrote "all's fair in games and war" and complimented his performances.[99][100]Sledgehammer Games's Darcy Sandall found Judge's joke unexpected "from a peer, at an event that [sic] supposed to be celebrating this year's achievements in gaming", particularly in light of reports regarding its development involvingcrunch.[94]
The in-person audience for the Game Awards 2023 at thePeacock Theater
An estimated 118 million viewers watched the ceremony, the most in the show's history to date[a] and a 15% increase from the previous year. More than 17,000 content creators co-streamed the event, including over 13,680 on Twitch (a 24% increase) and 4,000 on YouTube. On Twitch, the show peaked at 1.94 million concurrent viewers and saw a 10% increase in total watch time.[6] The extension "Twitch Predicts The Game Awards" reached almost four million views, with 330,000 concurrent viewers.[102] On YouTube, the ceremony set a show record with a peak of 1.7 million concurrent viewers, a 35% increase, with over 900,000 on the official channel, a 53% increase.[6]
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