It’s the end of the year, and it’s that time of the year where we at Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters announce the Game Of The Year Awards.
2023 marks the seventh edition of the GOTY Awards, and this year we are celebrating one of the best years for game releases. It is an awful shame that such great successes in making these works of art comes at the cost of thousands of game developers losing their jobs.
We’ll be updating this hub page with all the announced winners. Check back every day, or on December 28 9PM Malaysia Time, for the full list of award winners.
GM GOTY Awards 2023 Rules
Here are some ground rules that the Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters Game Of The Year Awards 2023 adhere to:
- The judging panel comprised of all the editorial team of Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters (which currently consists of three people)
- The shortlisting of the Top 30/Best 30 games is done before deliberations start
- At least five other games, separate from the Top 30, are nominated for the Trashfire Award
- The cut-off date for eligible games for this year is December 8, 2023
- Games must be released in full (no Early Access games)
- Games that made an impact during Early Access in previous years can get nominated after their full 1.0 release
- At least one panellist must vouch for a game that is in the Top 30
- Games that no panellists have played (but followed closely via streams/socials/community sites/etc.) are still eligible
- Each award can only have one winner and at most four runners-up, making a total of five nominations.
- Deliberations for each category winner are done as part of an episode on dia.log – The Gamer Matters Podcast
- The shortlisted Top 30 games also get its own episode prior to the deliberations, justifying why the games made the list
- Winners of awards are not based entirely on objectivity. Results are subject to the many biases and preferences of the individuals in the editorial team
- It reflects the overall sentiment of the game within Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters. These are our favourite games of the year
- Review scores are ignored
GM GOTY Awards Game Of The Years
- 2022: Need For Speed Unbound
- 2021: Psychonauts 2
- 2020: Yakuza: Like A Dragon
- 2019: Control
- 2018: Monster Hunter World
- 2017: Nier Automata
GM GOTY Awards 2023 Award Categories
For 2023, we have retired one previous category, Best Game We Didn’t Play, as all Top 30 games in our selection are all games we’ve played.
A new wildcard award category is now opened in its stead. This is so we can give an award that reflects a particular trend of games that were released in the year. For 2023, we’re kicking it off with an extra genre-based award in the way of Best Horror Game.
Here are all the award categories available on GM GOTY Awards 2023:
- Best Game On Game Pass
- Best Meme Generator
- Best Racing Game
- Best Horror Game (Wildcard)
- Best Aesthetic
- Best Story
- Best Indie Game
- Trashfire Award
- Game Of The Year
Top 30 Games Of 2023
- A Space For The Unbound
- Against The Storm
- Alan Wake 2
- Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Dave The Diver
- Dead Island 2
- Dead Space (2023)
- EA Sports WRC
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Fire Emblem Engage
- Ghostrunner 2
- Hi-Fi Rush
- HoloCure: Save The Fans
- Lego 2K Drive
- Lies Of P
- Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Phantom Brigade
- Resident Evil 4 (2023)
- Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance Of The Slayer
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- Starfield
- Street Fighter 6
- Suika Game
- Super Mario Bros Wonder
- The Crew: Motorfest
- We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie
- Wild Hearts
- Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
Best Game On Game Pass
The best game we got to play thanks to our PC Game Pass subscription.
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Lies Of P
- Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
- Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance Of The Slayer
- Starfield
Best Meme Generator
The best games that dominated our conversations, social media, and shitposts throughout the year.
- Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Resident Evil 4 (2023)
- Street Fighter 6
Best Racing Game
The only normal genre-based game award here and it is as it says.
- EA Sports WRC
- Lego 2K Drive
- Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
- The Crew: Motorfest
Best Horror Game [Wildcard]
The Wildcard slot is reserved for special award categories that may only be feasible to have for only this year and deserve further deliberation. This year, we are celebrating the Best Horror Game.
- Alan Wake 2
- Dead Island 2
- Dead Space (2023)
- Resident Evil 4 (2023)
Best Aesthetic
The best game to use a style, a combination of art style and sound design, that makes it stand out from the beige of normality.
- Ghostrunner 2
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Lies Of P
- Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance Of The Slayer
- Street Fighter 6
Best Story
The narrative that captures our hearts and minds delivered in video game form.
- A Space For The Unbound
- Alan Wake 2
- Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Starfield
Best Indie Game
Games that don’t need the budget of a AAA blockbuster to be impactful, fun, or enthralling. Independent games can do what no big-budget game can do: be anything they want.
- A Space For The Unbound
- Against The Storm
- HoloCure: Save The Fans
- Phantom Brigade
- Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance Of The Slayer
Game Of The Year
The big one. As it says, the Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters Game Of The Year 2023 award. The game we collectively believe to be the best released this year
- Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Starfield
- Alan Wake 2
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Against The Storm
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Lies Of P
- Street Fighter 6
- Dead Space (2023)