Within the last decade or so, video games have come to be recognized as an art form deserving of critical analysis and praise. One of the most prestigious awards that a game can earn is a nomination from The Game Awards which has been held every year since 2014.
Here, we will discuss some of the best video games of 2023, who were some of the best game developers of 2023, and how they developed such lauded and well-loved titles.
Follow along or jump to the section that interests you the most.
What Were the Best Video Games of 2023
Some of the best video games of 2023 include:
- Alan Wake 2
- Cocoon
- Resident Evil Village VR Mode
- Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
Alan Wake 2
Alan Wake 2, developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games Publishing, won the awards for Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Art Direction at The Game Awards. It was also nominated in several other categories, including Game of the Year, Best Score and Music, Best Audio Design, and Best Action/Adventure Game. Alongside Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2 had the most nominations for this year’s awards.
Marking Remedy Entertainment’s first dive into the survival horror genre, Alan Wake 2 is the long-awaited sequel to the first Alan Wake released in 2010. The game follows the parallel stories of a writer trying to escape a nightmare and an FBI agent investigating a series of small-town murders.
Cocoon
Cocoon from Geometric Interactive was nominated for the Best Independent Game and took home the Best Debut Indie Game award at The Game Awards. Geometric Interactive also won the Breakthrough Award at the Golden Joystick Awards in 2023.
The first title released by Geometric Interactive, Cocoon is a puzzle adventure game that has players leaping through worlds as a small bug. Each world is filled with battles and hidden pathways and objects, compelling players into an engaging cosmic mystery.
Resident Evil’s Village VR Mode
Another of the best video games of 2023 is Resident Evil’s Village VR Mode, winner of the Game Award for Best AR/VR Game. Developed by Capcom, Resident Evil’s Village is a popular video game franchise which was first released in 1996.
Resident Evil’s Village VR Mode uses striking graphics, eye tracking and 3D audio to create an immersive experience for players. The game follows the protagonist Ethan Winters as he moves through the Village, attempting to escape the evils that lurk around him.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
While Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands from Gearbox Software may not have been nominated at The Game Awards, it was nominated for several National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) Awards categories, including Costume Design, Sound Effects, and Franchise Action, Game.
A spin-off of the Borderlands series, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is an action role-playing first-person shooter set within the world of a fantasy-themed tabletop role-playing game run by Tiny Tina. The player takes the role of “The Newbie” as they try to survive all the challenges that Tiny Tina throws their way.
Back to topWant to Build Award Winning Games Like Gearbox?
Gearbox is taking advantage of the power and flexibility of the cloud – relying on Perforce P4 (formerly Helix Core) and JetBrains TeamCity to streamline game development. Take a deep dive into Gearbox’s game development process in our webinar.
Other Notable Best Video Games of 2023
Other notable best games of 2023 that were recognized at The Game Awards include:
- Baldur’s Gate 3: Winner of multiple awards, including Game of the Year.
- Street Fighter 6: Winner of the Best Fighting Game.
- Valorant: Winner of the Best Esports Game.
- Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon: Winner of the Best Action Game.
Back to top2023 State of Game Development & Design Report
Last year, we asked hundreds of your peers in the game development industry about some of the key challenges they faced in attempting to build the best video games of 2023. Find out what they had to say about collaboration, talent acquisition, and emerging technology.
Who Were the Top Game Developers of 2023?
Some of the top game developers of 2023 that were recognized at The Game Awards were:
- Larian Studios
- Capcom
- Epic Games
- Gearbox
What Do the Best Game Developers Have in Common?
The studios that produce all the games mentioned above, use Perforce P4 (formerly Helix Core).
Version Control
Most game development teams use a version control system – an essential tool for storing assets, managing changes to files over time, and enabling global teams to collaborate. Whether a studio is an indie, AAA, or someone in-between, every single one needs version control because games are built with many types of assets: code, binary files, and digital assets (including 2D, 3D, audio, and visual files).
Trusted by 19/20 of the top AAA studios, P4 can easily handle petabytes of data and tens of thousands of users while still delivering files quickly. Teams using P4 are able to store all of their assets in one secure, central location, as well as integrate with some of the industry’s leading game engines, including Unity and Unreal Engine.
Perforce P4 is the game development industry standard for version control. It provides a globally capable infrastructure to manage millions of changes to extremely large files in support of innovative teams across industries.
In addition, P4 connects remote and globally distributed teams and ensures that they always have instant access to the latest version of their working files — no matter where they may be located.
📘 Related Resource: How to Configure Perforce P4 + Game Engine
Digital Asset Management
Built on top of P4, P4 DAM (formerly Helix DAM) is a digital asset management tool that provides a visual web-based UI that empowers teams by making it easy to find, use, store, review, repurpose, and share all creative assets.
Considering the number and file size of assets needed to create games, it is more important than ever to have a limitless and integrated visual library, housing not only all the files within one project, but your studio or organization’s complete asset history.
What’s more, P4 DAM streamlines creative workflows and accelerates the review process by enabling teams to instantly see where an asset is in the creation and review process, and directly comment on an asset.
P4 DAM— Digital Asset Management by Perforce
Try P4 DAM free in our sandbox. No commitment or setup necessary.
Project Management
Game development project management tools — like P4 Plan (formerly Hansoft) — help teams ensure that their games get finished on time. Built by game developers for game developers, P4 Plan features backlog functionality that scales alongside teams as they and their projects grow, ensuring that no project is too large to handle.
In addition, with P4 Plan’s advanced dashboard functionality, everyone — from artists and designers to developers and project managers — can quickly see the progress and status of each individual component of their project. What’s more, P4 Plan enables teams to customize and export reports to provide a high-level overview of the project at any time.
Top Game Developers Use Perforce — You Can Too
See for yourself why you can trust Perforce in the development of your next project. P4 is free for teams of up to five users and can easily scale along with you as your teams and projects grow.