The Best Year for Gamers: Could 2023 Be It?

Every new year comes with its own selection of video game slam dunks and failures and, sure enough, 2023's already had its fair share of both. Have you kept up with all the good stuff we've been getting lately, though? Let alone the stuff that's coming out over the next couple of months? Now, we're not here to claim that 2023 is the best year for gamers - ever - but we'd like to argue that it may well be one of those, for sure.

It's a simple statement of fact that 2023 is absolutely, positively chock-full of gaming goodness. From Hogwarts Legacy all the way to Starfield, the sheer range and variety on display are nothing short of incredible, and there's something to be said about validating this in some way, shape, or form.

A solid place to get acquainted with what's coming, perhaps, would be the recent Summer Game Fest 2023, which was a heck of a good time. Today, though, we're going to do a bit more than just that.

READ MORE: Pre-Order Starfield Today!

Why 2023 May Be The Best Year for Gamers Yet

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Keeping up with the full video game release date calendar is no small feat. There are so many developers and publishers operating in the industry that almost nobody can keep up with everything! While this is true in a broad, general sense, the thing that sets 2023 apart from the preceding (and possibly following) years is that this may be the year that all the game devs have finally and properly sprung back up from COVID.

True enough, the pandemic had come and gone some time ago. The thing to keep in mind, however, is that the gaming industry has a very long tail. When the projected three-year production cycle of a massive new game gets slapped around for about half of it, you can bet it's going to take way longer in the end. That, we believe, is one of the key reasons why 2023 is so loaded with high-profile releases.

Just to list a few truly big titles, this year we've already had:

Again - this is not even remotely close to being an exhaustive list of everything we've seen and - hopefully - played. True enough, there have been some duds as well - from publishers both big and small - but these pale compared to games such as the ones listed above.

There's More Yet to Come, Too

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Aside from the mouth-watering 45 minutes' worth of Starfield gameplay we got just a few days back, there's a bunch of other exciting games coming out in the remainder of 2023, too:

And that's just barely scratching the surface, mind. Forza Motorsport, Lies of P, Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2... as we previously said, there are so many exciting and promising releases in 2023, it's genuinely hard to keep up with them all.

Keeping that in mind, the idea that 2023 may well be one of the best gaming years we've ever had doesn't seem far-fetched at all, right? Almost every niche has been served, and almost every major franchise is making an appearance, even if only in spirit. That being what it is, if you're a PC gamer, then all these awesome new games come with a bit of a caveat, to boot.

It's Not All Milk and Honey (for PC Gamers in Particular)

If you're a PC gamer, then you've already had the pleasure of meeting the dreaded shader stutter. As we transitioned over to games built specifically for the PS5 and Xbox Series hardware (without concessions for older-gen consoles, that is), so too has it become impossible for your average PC to plough through any old game you throw at it. This more-or-less began with Cyberpunk 2077, and the average PC gamer is still reeling from the transition. The shader stutter, then, is just a rotten cherry on top of the problem that are the rapidly increasing PC hardware requirements.

Though the Dead Space remake was quite phenomenal, then, it was marred by a wealth of performance problems. Gaming on PC is, then, a bit of a give-and-take in 2023. More so than it's been in a good long while. Will it change anytime soon? We don't know, truth be told, but the good news is that PC gamers playing Starfield at least won't be capped at just 30 frames per second.

Still, Good Stuff Prevails

Even if we keep the problems outlined above in mind, it's still a phenomenal time to be a gamer. The games we're getting are big, complex, and engaging. Beautiful to look at and remarkably immersive in moment-to-moment gameplay. And sure enough, depending on how niched-out your favorite genre is, you may have a bit of a hard time getting something new to play, but most everything is being served as of late.

With the good comes the bad, of course, and if the recent glut of technical problems could be resolved over the next year or two, with the new game engines such as Unreal 5, then we may well end up in a new golden age of gaming, with a renewed focus on single-player experiences, platform-level strengths with proper hardware leveraging, and focused development. Will that happen, though? We don't know just yet. All we know is that 2023's bound to be one of the all-time greats for the industry.

What Are You Excited About Next?

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The obvious question that remains, then, is which games are you most excited about? Are you a Bethesda fan eagerly anticipating Starfield? Has the new Yakuza title been on your radar ever since it was announced? Do you need the new Cities: Skylines game injected into your veins?

Heck, we can't blame you for any of these things! It's an exciting time, as we can all surely agree by now, and even though we've got some growing pains with the "new" hardware generation finally coming into its own, the quality of the content and the unforgettable experiences we've been treated to are beyond any level of technical problems.

One last thing: we've been hard at work providing comprehensive coverage for all the Summer Game Fest 2023 showcases here at 2Game. If you want to get up to speed with all the latest news, use the links featured here:

Have fun!

CHECK OUT: The Full Xbox Games Showcase Summary

Every new year comes with its own selection of video game slam dunks and failures and, sure enough, 2023’s already had its fair share of both. Have you kept up with all the good stuff we’ve been getting lately, though? Let alone the stuff that’s coming out over the next couple of months? Now, we’re […]