IGN Awards 2023: Every Winner Announced
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been crowned IGN’s Best Game of 2023, narrowly beating the much-celebrated role-playing game Baldur’s Gate 3. Despite missing out on the main honor, Larian’s RPG still walked away with three awards, namely Best PC Game, Beyond’s Best PlayStation Game and, unsurprisingly, Best RPG. It equalled the number of awards picked up by Tears of the Kingdom, which was crowned Best Open-World Game and NVC’s Best Nintendo Game in addition to Best Game of the year.
Other big winners include Barbie, which picked up both Best Movie and Best Character in Ryan Gosling’s Ken, and Alan Wake 2, which also won two awards – Best Horror Game and Unlocked’s Best Xbox Game. Succession was named Best TV Series and narrowly missed out Biggest Holy F**k Moment of 2023 – a new award for this year, which was won at the last minute by the trailer for GTA 6.
The IGN Awards were voted for by the content team responsible for making everything you read and watch on the site, and rolled out over the last week. You can see a complete list of winners below, or by flicking through this slideshow.
Additionally, we’re proud to announcing here the winners of our final categories including Best Fighting Game, Animated TV series, and Comic Book Adaptation. With so much greatness to celebrate, let’s jump right in with the first of our final winners.
Best Puzzle Game: Cocoon
Cocoon is the brilliant new game from former Playdead lead designer Jeppe Carlsen, who previously worked on games like Limbo and Inside. Similar to Carlsen’s previous games, Cocoon is an ingenious mix of environmental puzzles but with an orb-based twist we won’t spoil here. Gorgeous aesthetics and mind-bending puzzles collide in this short but very sweet experience. Cocoon may have gotten a bit lost in the shuffle of this year’s hectic fall gaming season, but you won’t want to sleep on our Best Puzzle Game winner.
Best Indie Game: Dredge
Our Best Indie Game winner was created by a team of four developers in New Zealand. But Black Salt Games’ first title, Dredge, is such a confident debut that we hope to see the studio grow even bigger and more ambitious for their eventual follow-up.
A Lovecraft-inspired game that’s more spooky than full-on horror, Dredge is a finely-crafted experience where you’re the captain of a small boat, operating in a fishing hamlet where you’re encouraged not to fish past dark. But alas, you start making your way into the waters as night falls and that’s where the fun really kicks in. Dredge is full of wonderfully creepy surprises, combined with a compelling boat management sim that easily makes it our favorite indie game of the year.
Best Fighting Game: Street Fighter 6
Capcom’s renaissance continued strong in 2023 thanks not only to its latest Resident Evil remake, but also our pick for the Best Fighting Game of the year: Street Fighter 6.
Capcom’s previous Street Fighter game, Street Fighter 5, was a barebones affair aimed squarely at the competitive fighting game scene. Not so much for Street Fighter 6, whose robust offering of different modes and control schemes means this is the best Street Fighter game to play for both new and returning fans.
The World Tour mode in particular is a staggeringly rich single-player mode that feels like it could’ve been released as a standalone experience. Additionally, the Modern and Dynamic control schemes are perfect for newcomers who are eager to learn more about the rewarding world of fighting games.
Best Racing Game: Forza Motorsport
Xbox’s marquee racing sim is back and better than ever with Forza Motorsport, IGN’s Best Racing Game winner of 2023. Unlike the Forza Horizon spinoffs, Forza Motorsport is for the racing purists and developer Turn 10 has refined the experience to feel better than ever. Literally, IGN’s review called Forza Motorsport “the best feeling” Motorsport game in the series thanks to a new level of polish unseen in the series until now. With more cars to choose from and possibly the best next-gen racing sim experience so far, you’re going to want to grab your racing wheel setup and begin to master hitting those apexes.
Best Sports Game: MLB The Show 23
San Diego Studios has consistently delivered great sports games each year, and 2023 is no exception. This year’s big-name baseball sim has all the polish you’ve come to expect from an MLB The Show game, but with some very important new modes that will delight any sports fan. The big new feature is a single-player Negro Leagues mode that is great to play while also serving as a loving tribute that offers an up-close look at this valuable piece of baseball history.
Best Strategy Game: Fire Emblem Engage
Intelligent Systems’ previous Fire Emblem game, Three Houses, went a bit too “Persona” for some traditional fans of the series, with heavy emphasis on social interaction and life outside the tactical battlefield. For Engage, it delivered a game for the strategists that goes back to the series’ roots. While there’s still plenty of social mechanics and extra-curricular activities to “engage” with, most of it is well and truly optional. If all you want to do is become a tactics master, commanding your troops in battle using Fire Emblem’s tried-and-true rock-paper-scissors style combat, you’re free to do so to your hearts’ content.
Best Platformer: Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a truly revolutionary take on everyone’s favorite plumber. Nintendo’s latest side-scrolling Mario game features some of the most ambitious, imaginative levels in the series’ history and takes cues directly from some of the best modern platformers like Super Meat Boy and Celeste. Super Mario Bros. Wonder shows Nintendo isn’t content to rest on its laurels. As indie developers push the boundaries of the genre, Nintendo met the newcomers with a wonderful response that shows why Mario remains king of platformers.
Best Animated TV Series: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off isn’t so much an animated adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s iconic graphic novel series as it is a stealth sequel. In the same way Final Fantasy 7 Remake trojan horse’d a reimagining of Square Enix’s classic RPG, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is a radical departure from the source material that greatly recontextualizes a series that was certainly showing some age. By refocusing the narrative away from its title character, animation studio Science Saru mines new depths from Scott’s supporting cast who more than outshine the jerk leading man.
Best Comic Book TV Series: Gen V
In our review we said that Gen V proves that Amazon is able to capitalize on the popularity of The Boys without needing to rely on characters like Homelander or Billy Butcher. This college-set superhero show plays like a demented Harry Potter, only instead of whimsical magic spells and friendship, we’ve got blood, guts, and exploding [redacted]. The new cast of characters more than hold their own within The Boys’ twisted universe, and Gen V feels like a truly exciting spinoff rather than an easy cash grab. Also, instead of just having a new season of The Boys to look forward to, we can also eagerly wait for the next season of Gen V — IGN’s best comic book TV series of 2023.
Be sure to check out our full list of winners and all of our other IGN Award categories below, and thank you all for a wonderful 2023. We hope to see you here next year for an equally exciting 2024 of great games, movies, books, and shows.
Best Video Game of 2023: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Open-World Game of 2023: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2023: Daredevil
Best Horror Movie of 2023: Talk to Me
Best Horror Game of 2023: Alan Wake 2
Best Soulslike of 2023: Lies of P
Best Stunt of 2023: John Wick: Chapter 4: Overhead Shootout
Best Anime of 2023: Vinland Saga season 2
Best Action Game of 2023: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie of 2023: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Accessibility Innovation in Games in 2023: Forza Motorsport
Best RPG of 2023: Baldur’s Gate 3
Best PC Game of 2023: Baldur’s Gate 3
Best TV Show of 2023: Succession
Best Character of 2023: Ken from Barbie
Biggest “Holy F**K” Moment of 2023: The GTA 6 Trailer
Beyond Best PlayStation Game of 2023: Baldur’s Gate 3
Unlocked Best Xbox Game of 2023: Alan Wake 2
NVC Best Nintendo Game of 2023: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
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