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In thevideo game industry, 2023 saw significant changes within larger publishers and developers.Microsoft, after having satisfied worldwide regulatory bodies, completed its $69 billionacquisition of Activision Blizzard, making them the third largest game publisher in the world.Embracer Group, which had been in an acquisition spree over the previous few years, had an estimated$2 billion deal fall through, causing many of the studios under Embracer to either lay off staff or close entirely. Similarlayoffs were seen atUnity,Amazon,ByteDance,Epic Games,Bungie, andUbisoft, leading toover 9,000 jobs lost in the industry in 2023 and part of a larger trend of layoffs at technology companies in 2023.[1][2][3]
Baldur's Gate 3 was the first game to sweep the five major awards: the Golden Joystick Awards, the Game Awards, the D.I.C.E. Awards, the Game Developers Choice Awards, and the BAFTA Games Awards.[4]
The number of highly praised video games released in 2023 was considered unusually high compared to most years, with 25 games having a 90 out of 100 or better aggregate score onMetacritic by October 2023; this made it the best year by number of acclaimed games, the largest since 2004.[10] This year was comparable to the slate of highly praised releases in1992,1997 and2008.[11] The reasons for this include the fact that most of the top games were delayed or not even developed until after theCOVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, leading to greater quality in gaming overall, and that theninth generation of consoles had become entrenched for developers.[10][12]
The following table lists the top-rated games released in 2023 based onMetacritic, which generally considersexpansions as separate entities.
The following titles were 2023's top ten best-selling premium games by region (excludingmicrotransactions andfree-to-play titles) onPC andconsole platforms, for Japan, the United States, and Europe.
| Month | Day(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| January | 6 | NetEase Games acquiredSkyBox Labs.[18] |
| 17 | Unity Technologies laid off 284 employees.[19] | |
| 18 | Google's cloud streaming serviceStadia closed, with all hardware and software purchases being refunded.[20] | |
| February | 17 | Super Nintendo World opened to the public inUniversal Studios Hollywood inCalifornia.[21] |
| 21–23 | Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosted the 2023 D.I.C.E. Summit and the26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards at theResorts World Las Vegas inLas Vegas, Nevada,[22]Tim Schafer inducted into the AIAS Hall of Fame.[23] | |
| March | 20–24 | TheGame Developers Conference returned to an all-physical format at theMoscone Center inSan Francisco.[24] |
| 22 | Atari announced its intent to acquireNightdive Studios for $10 million.[25] | |
| 27 | Nintendo closed theNintendo eShop forNintendo 3DS andWii U.[26] | |
| 29 | Electronic Arts laid off about 800 staff.[27] | |
| 30 | TheEntertainment Software Association announced thatE3 2023 was cancelled due to lack of major publisher attendance.[28] | |
| April | 3 | Legendary Entertainment secured TV and film rights ofCapcom'sStreet Fighter franchise.[29] |
| 5 | Savvy Games Group announced its intent to acquireScopely for $4.9 billion.[30] | |
| 19 | Epic Games acquiredBrazil-based studio Aquiris.[31] | |
| 20 | Focus Entertainment acquired publisher studioDovetail Games.[32] | |
| Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Firewalk Studios under itsPlayStation Studios label.[33] | ||
| May | 3 | Unity Technologies announced plans to cut 600 jobs.[34] |
| June | 5 | Apple announced theApple Vision Pro, a mixed reality headset, set to release in early 2024.[35][36] |
| 8 | The 2023Summer Game Fest was held through a combination of various in-person and streamed video events from over forty publishing partners at theYouTube Theater inLos Angeles.[37] | |
| 14 | Embracer Group began undergoing a large-scale restructuring program due to the failure of a plannedUS$2 billion deal, which would affect some of its studios and ongoing projects.[38] | |
| 25 | TheHollywood Bowl Orchestra performed a 10-year anniversary concert forThe Game Awards, an end-of-the-year awards ceremony that has been running since 2014, at theHollywood Bowl inLos Angeles.[39] | |
| July | 24 | Tencent announced its intent to acquire majority shares ofTechland.[40] |
| August | 10–12 | Quakecon returned as a live in-person event inGrapevine, Texas, following three years of digital formats due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[41] |
| 11–13 | The2023 Pokémon World Championships took place at thePacifico Yokohama convention center inYokohama,Japan.[42][43] | |
| 18 | Sega Sammy Group completed the acquisition ofRovio Entertainment forUS$775M.[44][45] | |
| 21 | Nintendo announced thatCharles Martinet will be stepping back from recording voices forMario and other characters.[46] | |
| 23–27 | TheGamescom convention took place at theKoelnmesse inCologne,Germany.[47] | |
| 31 | As part of its restructuring, Embracer Group shutteredVolition.[48] | |
| September | 1–4 | Nintendo of America hosted Nintendo Live, an in-person event that was introduced in Japan back in 2017, inSeattle.[49] |
| 7 | TheESA announced that there would be noE3 in 2024.[50][51] | |
| 13 | Unity Technologies announced a new retroactive licensing fee for theUnity game engine to start in 2024, generating backlash within theindie game community. The criticism led Unity to rework the fee structure to less-aggressive terms one week later.[52] | |
| 21–24 | TheTokyo Game Show convention took place at theMakuhari Messe inChiba,Japan.[53] | |
| 27 | Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, announced his intent to leave Sony by April 2024.[54] | |
| 28 | Epic Games laid off about 16% of its workforce, approximately 850 employees, including divestment ofBandcamp and SuperAwesome.[55] | |
| October | 4 | Nintendo announced that the online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software will discontinue in early April 2024.[56] |
| 13 | Theacquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft was completed following approval from the United Kingdom'sCompetition and Markets Authority.[57] | |
| Kevin Afghani was announced as the new voice of Mario andLuigi.[58] | ||
| 30 | Bungie laid off about 100 employees as part of cost-cutting measures due to lower player counts ofDestiny 2.[59] | |
| 31 | Atari announced its intent to acquireDigital Eclipse for $20 million.[60] | |
| November | 3–4 | Blizzard Entertainment hostedBlizzCon, an in-person event, at theAnaheim Convention Center in California.[61] |
| 7 | Ubisoft laid off 124 employees worldwide, most from its Canadian studios.[62] | |
| 8 | Blizzard Entertainment announced its intent to transition theOverwatch League into a more traditional esports structure.[63] | |
| 15 | Series of layoffs were announced atAmazon Games,Digital Bros,Humble Games, andKongregate.[64] | |
| 28 | Unity Technologies announced another set of layoffs consisting of 3.8% or 265 employees as part of a company "reset" following its licensing changes in September 2023.[65] | |
| December | 7 | The Game Awards 2023, honoring the best video games of the year, took place at thePeacock Theater in Los Angeles.[66] |
| 11 | Free Radical Design was shut down as part of the fallout from Embracer Group's failed $2 billion deal.[67] | |
| Google was found to have maintained an illegal monopoly in the Android market by a jury trial inEpic Games v. Google.[68] | ||
| 12 | The ESA confirmed that they would no longer hold E3 trade shows for the foreseeable future.[69] | |
| 15 | Activision Blizzard and theCalifornia Civil Rights Department agreed to a $54 million settlement in thelawsuit into sexual harassment at the company.[70] | |
| 19 | Insomniac Games suffered a data breach and had its ten-year plans released, as well as personnel information and several historical details around the company and Sony Interactive Entertainment, after failing to pay the hacking group to prevent its release.[71][72] | |
| 29 | As part ofMicrosoft'sacquisition,Bobby Kotick retired from Activision Blizzard after being its CEO for 32 years.[73] |
| Month | Day | Console |
|---|---|---|
| January | 26 | Razer Edge |
| February | 22 | PlayStation VR2[95][96] |
| June | 13 | Asus ROG Ally |
| October | 10 | Meta Quest 3[97][98] |
| November | 15 | PlayStation Portal[99] |
| 16 | Steam Deck OLED[100] | |
| 17 | Atari 2600+[101] |
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| Title | Release / premiere date | Type | Distributor(s) | Franchise(s) | Original game publisher(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War | January 6, 2023 | Anime television series | Tokyo MX(Japan) | Trails | Nihon Falcom(Japan) Xseed Games(worldwide) | [1077] |
| Nier: Automata Ver1.1a | January 8, 2023 | Drakengard | Square Enix | [1078] | ||
| The Last of Us | January 15, 2023 | Television series | HBO(United States) | The Last of Us | Sony Interactive Entertainment | [1079] |
| Tetris | March 31, 2023 | Biopic film | Apple TV+ | Tetris | Atari Games | [1080] |
| Alice Gear Aegis Expansion | April 3, 2023 | Anime television series | Tokyo MX(Japan) Hidive(worldwide except Asia) | Alice Gear Aegis | Colopl | [1081] |
| The Super Mario Bros. Movie | April 5, 2023 | CG animated film | Universal Pictures | Mario | Nintendo | [1082] |
| Pokémon Horizons: The Series | April 14, 2023[i] | Anime television series | TV Tokyo(Japan) Netflix(United States) | Pokémon | Nintendo The Pokémon Company | [1084] |
| Raid: Call of the Arbiter | May 18, 2023 | Limited animated webseries | YouTube | Raid: Shadow Legends | Plarium Games | [1085] |
| Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout | July 1, 2023 | Anime television series | Tokyo MX(Japan) | Atelier | Gust Co. Ltd.(Japan) Koei Tecmo(worldwide) | [1086] |
| Resident Evil: Death Island | July 7, 2023 | CG animated film | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment | Resident Evil | Capcom | [1087] |
| Twisted Metal | July 27, 2023 | Television series | Peacock | Twisted Metal | Sony Interactive Entertainment | [1088] |
| The Sounds of Nightmares | August 22, 2023 | Podcast series | YouTube | Little Nightmares | Bandai Namco Entertainment | [1089] |
| Gran Turismo | August 25, 2023 | Feature film | Sony Pictures | Gran Turismo | Sony Interactive Entertainment | [1090] |
| Pokémon: Paldean Winds | September 6, 2023 | Limited animated webseries | YouTube | Pokémon | Nintendo The Pokémon Company | [1091] |
| Castlevania: Nocturne | September 28, 2023 | Animated television series | Netflix | Castlevania | Konami | [1092] |
| Shangri-La Frontier | October 1, 2023 | Anime television series | TBS(Japan) Crunchyroll(worldwide) | — | — | [1093] |
| Arknights: Perish in Frost | October 6, 2023 | TV Tokyo(Japan) Crunchyroll(worldwide) | Arknights | Hypergryph(China) Yostar(worldwide) | [1094] | |
| Good Night World | October 12, 2023 | Anime series | Netflix | — | — | [1095] |
| Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match | October 17, 2023 | Animated film | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment | Mortal Kombat | Midway Games | [1096] |
| Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix | October 19, 2023 | Anime series | Netflix | Far Cry | Ubisoft | [1097] |
| Fill Your Pocket with Adventure | Television series | TV Tokyo(Japan) | Pokémon | Nintendo The Pokémon Company | [1098] | |
| Detective Pikachu & the Mystery of the Missing Flan | October 25, 2023 | Animated short film | YouTube | Detective Pikachu Pokémon | [1099] | |
| Five Nights at Freddy's | October 27, 2023 | Feature film | Universal Pictures | Five Nights at Freddy's | Scott Cawthon | [1100] |
| Onimusha | November 2, 2023 | Anime series | Netflix | Onimusha | Capcom | [1101] |
| Pokémon Concierge | December 28, 2023 | Stop-motion animated series | Pokémon | Nintendo The Pokémon Company | [1102] |
Due out on February 23, 2023 in Japan.
March 3 in Europe, Oceania.
Due out on March 9.
Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights first launched on April 27, 2023 in Japan.
The Switch version will follow later in 2023.
Stasis: Bone Totem first launched for PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG, and Humble Store on May 31, 2023.
Kill The Crows first launched for PC via Steam on August 21, 2023.
Open beta test begins August 11.
Amatsu Sora ni Saku first launched for PC on September 9, 2023.
Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles first launched for PC via Steam on September 21, 2023.
October 13 in Oceania.
Due out on October 5.
The Jackbox Party Pack 10, releasing on October 19.
Naheulbeuk's Dungeon Master first launched for PC via Steam on November 15, 2023.
Cupid Parasite: Sweet & Spicy Darling first launched in Japan on November 30, 2023.
Despera Drops first launched for Switch on November 30 in Japan.
Currently planned for a Q4 2023 release on PC, with the Switch version following a year later.
Zero to Dance Hero first launched for Switch on December 21, 2023.
RELEASE DATE: Dec 26, 2023
A release date of October 17, 2023.
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