Hello folks! It's hard to believe we're already at the end of the year. I swear it was just January and then I blinked and here we are. That of course means that it's time to acknowledge the best games that have released in the last several months. Xbox exclusives — Starfield in particular — might have been snubbed a bit at this year's The Game Awards, but there are still plenty of nominees on PC and Xbox to root for. Of course, there's also the chance that we might get highly anticipated news on upcoming Xbox games or upcoming PC games.
The excitement is building and I personally cannot wait to see if we get new trailers or information surrounding Fable, Hellblade II, Avowed, and more. One thing's for sure, we at Windows Central will be here to revel in the latest news with live instant updates so tune in with us to get the latest information on The Game Awards 2023. — Rebecca Spear, Gaming Editor
Just what will we see tomorrow?
Hi everyone, Samuel Tolbert here with the Windows Central Gaming team. I'm curious about how this year's Game Awards will unfold. The last couple of years, we already knew about a lot of the announcements before they were shown, but that's not the case here. There's a couple of tidbits and teasers, sure, but we're mostly in the dark. One big thing at the top of my mind though? Getting a release date for Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox Series X|S, which we do know will be here. — Samuel Tolbert, gaming contributor
Welcome to our coverage of The Game Awards!
Hello, all, and welcome to Team Windows Central's live coverage of The Game Awards 2023! I'm Brendan Lowry, one of our gaming contributors that'll be bringing you coverage of the event as it happens, including every award presentation, world premiere, new game trailer, and more. As my colleague Samuel said, it's sure to be an interesting show — both because we don't know much about what will be there, and also because countless incredible games have launched this year.
My personal Game of the Year is Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, which I confidently gave a 5 out of 5 rating when I reviewed it back in August. It didn't get nominated for the official award, sadly (and let's be real, Baldur's Gate 3 totally deserves it), but I'm hoping it at least takes home Best Action Game. I'd also love to see another trailer for Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC (if you couldn't tell, I'm a bit of a diehard FromSoftware stan). No matter what, though, The Game Awards should be a good time! — Brendan Lowry, gaming contributor
Our own Jez Corden is generating some hype
No spoilers from me but I know more about The Game Awards than usual this year and I'm pretty hype rn.December 6, 2023
Our own Mr Xbox, Jez Corden, apparently has some of his famous insider knowledge on what's coming at this year's The Game Awards. No spoilers (good man!) but if Jez is hyped, then that probably means the rest of us should be. — Richard Devine, Managing Editor
What to expect from The Game Awards 2023
Good morning everyone! We've made it to the big day, and at the time of writing, The Game Awards is now just 10 hours away. Ahead of the broadcast, I'd like to go over everything that we know we're going to see tonight, either due to direct confirmations or because of teasers and hints given ahead of the show.
The amount of details we have for the event this year are unusually sparse, though we still have information about a decent number of the incoming reveals and announcements. These include the following:
- Baldur's Gate 3's Xbox release date (Shadow drop? 👀)
- Microsoft might make some "important announcements"
- Sega is teasing something with the "New Era, New Energy" tagline
- More details about Warframe's Whisper of the Walls update
- The world premiere of Fortnite's Rocket Racing game mode
- The next character coming to Guilty Gear Strive in Season 3
- A look at a Dead by Daylight/Supermassive Games collab
- ATLUS "has something to show" for Metaphor: ReFantazio
- The Outlast Trials dev Red Barrels has something in store
- Official launch trailer for the Meta Quest VR title Asgard's Wrath 2
Beyond these, we're very much in the dark, though there's sure to be plenty more since this is a 2-3 hour long show. Personally, I'm hoping to see something from GSC Game World on the long-awaited STALKER 2, which has been delayed multiple times to Q1 2024 due to Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. I'm a massive fan of that series, and am looking forward to seeing more of what GSC is cooking up. An announcement from 4A Games, another Ukrainian developer that created the popular Metro series, would also be very exciting. Oh, and as I wrote last night, show me more of the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, FromSoftware! — Brendan Lowry
Timothée Chalamet to present at TGA
Tonight, we welcome @WonkaMovie and @DuneMovie star Timothée Chalamet to #TheGameAwards as a presenter. Watch the free global livestream at https://t.co/u70K4kSdGZ at 4:30p PT / 7:30p ET / 12:30a GMT.👀 pic.twitter.com/67GXBfvnDxDecember 7, 2023
Ahead of the show tonight, Geoff Keighley has announced that Timothée Chalamet will join Kratos voice actor Christopher Judge, Respawn Entertainment CEO Vince Zampella, and others as a presenter for The Game Awards.
Chalamet, star of the 2021 Dune film as well as its upcoming 2024 sequel and the Wonka movie that's scheduled to come to theaters on December 15, hasn't been shy about sharing his love of gaming before. Interestingly, he even visited Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions last month, with both Geoff Keighley and the official The Game Awards account replying to photos of the visit on X (formerly Twitter) with "eyes" and "monocle" emojis.
Could we see Kojima and Chalamet announce that he'll be playing a role in a new Kojima Productions game, much like Norman Reedus did in Death Stranding? Maybe he'll appear in Death Stranding 2, or Kojima's upcoming cloud-powered Xbox game? Only time will tell... — Brendan Lowry
More PlayStation games headed to PC?
In 2022, Sony pulled up to the Game Awards to share details on the timing for some PlayStation 5 games being ported to PC, letting players know when to expect Returnal and The Last of Us Part 1 would be getting ports. It seems reasonable to expect Sony could attend the Game Awards 2023 in a similar fashion. We know that Horizon Forbidden West is headed to Windows PC, so why not drop a quick trailer with the release date? Maybe Sony could even share details on what other PlayStation games are headed to PC soon. — Samuel Tolbert
Gonzo the Muppet is ready for The Game Awards 2023
Gonzo just entered the building. #TheGameAwardsDecember 7, 2023
Various Muppets have made appearances at The Game Awards over the years and this time The Great Gonzo will be taking stage as a presenter. In fact, it seems the Muppet is already at The Game Awards as revealed by a tweet from Geoff Keighley. "Gonzo just entered the building," it reads.
Whether or not Gonzo will be accompanied by any other Muppets is currently unknown but it wouldn't be surprising if Camilla the Chicken is part of his act. In the past, Muppet character appearances at The Game Awards have included Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, Pepé the King Prawn, The Swedish Chef, and Animal.
These appearances have previously served a dual purpose of providing comedic entertainment as well as a means of announcing new gaming content or revealing the winner of a category. It's currently uncertain which award Gonzo will present, but we're looking forward to seeing what unfolds. — Rebecca Spear
Is Baldur's Gate 3's director about to go to TGA in a suit of armor?
Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the biggest games appearing at this year's The Game Awards, with nominations for eight awards including the distinguished title of Game of the Year. And tonight, its director might walk on stage wearing a suit of full plate armor.
Swen Vincke, Baldur's Gate 3's Game Director and also Larian Studios' founder and CEO, is well-known for the gorgeous knightly armor he often wears in marketing materials and interviews. A few days ago, he took to X (formerly Twitter) to tease the idea of wearing it to The Game Awards, and eventually ended up proclaiming that he'd suit up if Larian's Lead Writer Adam Smith went in a bear costume. Smith, of course, was down with the idea.
Tragically, there's been a hiccup that threatens to ruin everything, as Larian's Director of Publishing Michael Douse said on X that the man transporting the armor to The Game Awards — a hero named "Nick" that we don't deserve — had his travel held up by a plane malfunction. However, "they gave Nick a brand new plane," so there's still hope.
"If all goes to plan," the armor will arrive in time, and Vincke will roll into The Game Awards with the drippiest outfit anyone's ever worn to the event (and he'll be accompanied by a suspiciously man-sized bear). As a huge nerd that fawns over medieval arms and armor, my fingers are definitely crossed. — Brendan Lowry
Life Is Strange, Jusant dev DON'T NOD teases an appearance
It looks like DON'T NOD, the studio behind narrative adventure games like Life Is Strange, Life Is Strange 2, Tell Me Why, and Twin Mirror, will be making an appearance at The Game Awards. In the hours leading up to the event, the developer posted a "videocassette" and "eyes" emoji while tagging The Game Awards. This post was then reposted by Geoff Keighley.
DON'T NOD — which also released the puzzle-filled climbing platformer Jusant at the end of October — is known for creating deep, story-rich games with attractive stylized visuals. We may see it reveal a new upcoming game tonight, though it's also possible it will have more to show of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. This third-person ghost hunting ARPG was announced at TGA 2022 and was originally slated to launch on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Windows PC in November, but was delayed to February 2024 due to 2023's crowded end-of-year release schedule. — Brendan Lowry
This TGA 2023 nominee is 90% off on Xbox for a limited time
For the survival horror crowd, one of the biggest game releases of 2023 was undoubtedly Dead Space (2023), also commonly referred to as the Dead Space remake. My colleague and fellow live blog writer Samuel Tolbert gave the remake a perfect 5/5 in his review, declaring that Motive Studios delivered "a love letter to the entire franchise" with its expanded narrative and incredibly impressive graphics, sound design, and musical score. The audio is so good, in fact, that the game's been nominated for Best Audio Design at The Game Awards 2023.
If you're interested in checking out what the hype's all about, you'll be happy to know that right now, you can snag the Digital Deluxe Edition of the Dead Space remake for just $7.99 on Xbox if you've got an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. That's a gargantuan 90% off the standard $79.99 price. Note that some of EA's other best games in years are on sale for the same discount, too, including Wild Hearts and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The latter is the prequel to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, another TGA 2023 nominee. — Brendan Lowry
- Dead Space (2023) Digital Deluxe Edition | was
$79.99now $7.99 at Microsoft w/ Xbox Game Pass Ultimate - Wild Hearts: Karakuri Edition | was
$89.99now $8.99 at Microsoft w/ Xbox Game Pass Ultimate - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Deluxe Edition | was
$49.99now $4.99 at Microsoft w/ Xbox Game Pass Ultimate - Xbox Game Pass Ultimate |
$49.99$31.69 at CDKeys (3-months) - Xbox Gift Card |
$25$22.50 at Target ($25) |$50$45 at Target ($50) |$100$90 at Target ($100)
Respawn Entertainment teasing something?
The official Twitter account for Respawn Entertainment chimed in with a reply to the Game Awards, saying "We'll be there." Does this mean the studio has an announcement, or will simply have many members watching the show? It's hard to say. On one hand, that feels surprising considering that the team just launched Star Wars Jedi: Survivor earlier this year.
On the other hand, Respawn is a large team, and the studio is known to be working on two other Star Wars projects right now, including a first-person shooter and a strategy game that's being co-developed with Bit Reactor, a studio itself founded by veterans at Firaxis. Maybe it's time for us to see one of these other games? — Samuel Tolbert
So it's Baldur's Gate 3, right?
The Game Awards 2023 is now under an hour-and-a-half away, and as I sit here looking over the six nominees for Game of the Year, I can't help but feel that Baldur's Gate 3 absolutely has this one in the bag.
Don't get me wrong — Alan Wake 2, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Resident Evil 4 (2023), Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are all amazing games, and they all deserve their place in the GOTY running. But to me, Baldur's Gate 3 is just...on an entirely different level. Much like 2022's Game of the Year Elden Ring before it, Larian's D&D CRPG dominated game industry discussions for months after its launch in August, with players around the world completely stunned by both its colossal size and its rich depth.
Everything from the game's deep choice-driven, multilayered narrative and stellar character writing to the ocean of diverse and creative builds you can put together to take through hundreds of turn-based combat scenarios is phenomenal, and all of it is supported by gorgeous visuals and music that bring the Forgotten Realms to life as well as terrific acting performances for minor enemies, companions, and everyone between (by the way, Neil Newbon, the actor that plays Astarion, is nominated for Best Performance).
To call Baldur's Gate 3 a landmark title is an understatement, and I can't imagine a world in which this masterpiece doesn't go home with the gold tonight. Even in a gaming year as absolutely stacked as 2023 is, it stands out. — Brendan Lowry
You could win a Legion Go or Steam Deck OLED while watching The Game Awards
Remember how last year there was a Steam Deck giveaway during The Game Awards? Well, things are even better this year since you have the chance to win one of 100 Steam Deck OLEDs or one of 100 Legion Go gaming handhelds — or maybe even both! You'll just have to sign up for the two sweepstakes!
🎮 Steam Deck OLED giveaway sign-up
🎮 Lenovo Legion Go giveaway sign-up
As explained by Geoff Keighley in a tweet, there is no purchase necessary. Entry is "open from 4:30pm PT – 8:00pm PT on 12/7/23.” But these giveaways are only available in the US and you must be 18 years old or older to participate. It's unclear exactly how the winners will be chosen, but more details are likely to be released after The Game Awards 2023 starts.
BTW, I did our Legion Go review here at Windows Central and I walked away very impressed by this gaming handheld. If you're looking for something that can run Windows 11 out of the box and gives you access to a variety of gaming services then it's a great choice to go with. — Rebecca Spear
Not much longer now!
The Game Awards 2023 is starting soon! The preshow is scheduled to kick off in about 15 minutes, while the main event should begin in around 45. Get a drink, grab a snack, and get comfy — I wish I went out and got some popcorn earlier myself, but at least I've got some soda to sip on.
Also, good news! Swen Vincke's armor made it to the Peacock Theater in time, so we're going to get to see Larian's CEO strutting around in full plate. Awesome. — Brendan Lowry
And we're off! Here's hoping tonight's show is an amazing one! — Brendan Lowry
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons remake announced for Feb. 28, 2024
A remake of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, an incredibly popular 2013 adventure game from director Josef Fares, has been announced. It's launching on February 28, 2024 on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Windows PC through Steam, Epic Games, and GOG.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder takes home Best Family award
Super Mario Bros. Wonder has won the Best Family award, beating out Disney Illusion Island, Party Animals, Pikmin 4, and Sonic Superstars.
Usual June, a new action hack-and-slash game, is coming 2025
Usual June, a new action hack-and-slash game from developer Finji, has been announced. The title has very colorful and stylized visuals, and is slated to release in 2025. Its platforms, however, are unknown.
Forza Motorsport (2023) wins Innovation in Accessibility
Forza Motorsport has taken home the Innovation in Accessibility award, coming out on top over Diablo 4, Hi-Fi Rush, Mortal Kombat 1, Street Fighter 6, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2.
Harmonium: The Musical coming to Game Pass, Netflix Games
Harmonium: The Musical, a new title about its deaf protagonist's beautiful relationship with music, is coming to Xbox Game Pass and Netflix Games in the future.
Motion Twin's Windblown coming to Steam Early Access in 2024
Windblown, a new action game from Dead Cells developer Motion Twin, is coming to Steam Early Access in 2024. Like Dead Cells, the game has a very stylized and colorful visual direction.
Thrasher, a new Drool rhythm game, is coming in 2024
Thrasher, a new rhythm game from Drool, the developer behind the popular title Thumper, has been announced for 2024. Little else is known about it beyond that, though it looks incredibly interesting.
WHAT? World of Goo 2 announced for 2024, and I'm LOSING IT
Out of NOWHERE, a sequel to the original World of Goo puzzler from 2008, has been announced for 2024. I played this game to pieces when I was younger, so to see that a second game is coming next year has me extremely excited. — Brendan Lowry
Dave the Diver x Dredge collab announced for Dec. 15
A collab between Dave the Diver and Dredge is coming to Dave the Diver in a Dec. 15 update. Once it goes live, you'll be able to explore environments and enjoy content inspired by Dredge. Dave the Diver is available on Windows PC, Mac, and Nintendo Switch, and was one of the biggest hits in 2023.
Neil Newbon, as Astarion, wins Best Performance
Neil Newbon, the actor behind Baldur's Gate 3's Astarion, has won Best Performance at The Game Awards. The other nominees are Ben Starr as Clive Rosfield (Final Fantasy XVI), Cameron Monaghan as Cal Kestis (Star Wars Jedi: Survivor), Idris Elba as Solomon Reed (Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty), Melanie Liburd as Saga Anderson (Alan Wake 2), and Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker (Marvel's Spider-Man 2).
The Rise of the Golden Idol coming to all platforms in 2024
The Rise of the Golden Idol, a new game from developer and publisher Playstack in which you'll "uncover the truth behind 15 strange cases of crime, death and depravity in the 1970s," is coming to all platforms in 2024.
Matthew McConaughey stars in Exodus, a sci-fi shooter coming to Xbox, PS5, and PC
Exodus, which appears to be a third-person sci-fi shooter that stars Matthew McConaughey, is coming to Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC. There's no release date yet, though some gameplay was shown.
God of War: Ragnarok getting free "Valhalla" DLC on Dec. 12
God of War: Ragnarok is getting a free DLC on Dec. 12 called "Valhalla." In it, Kratos will head to Valhalla and engage in gameplay that blends God of War's action-packed combat with roguelike elements.
Big Walk is a very silly adventure game coming in 2025
Big Walk, which looks to be a hilarious adventure game with very goofy stick figure-like characters, is coming from developer House House in 2025. Not much is known about it yet, though we did get to see some scripted gameplay.
Pony Island 2: Panda Circus announced, coming to Steam in 2025 ... maybe?
Pony Island 2: Panda Circus, a sequel to the original bizarre suspense-driven puzzle game, was announced at TGA 2023. It's coming to Steam, and though the release date year flickered quite a bit in the trailer, it seems like it's coming in 2025.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II gets new trailer, 2024 release date
We finally got to see more of Senua's Saga: Hellblade II with a new trailer that came after an incredible live music performance. The game has been officially confirmed for 2024, and is coming to Xbox Series X|S and Steam, as well as Game Pass.