Fifa, Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto, AI... Top 10 talking points in gaming in 2023
Fortnite made an unexpected return to the original island.
It was a fantastic year for gaming, as we bade farewell to some old friends, and welcomed back others.
As always, there were high scores and low scores, so let’s take a look at the biggest and best moments of 2023.
FIFA is technically the name of a football federation, but so popular was the videogame that it practically cornered the word for itself. Thus, it was a seismic transfer move when EA decided to cut ties with the FIFA brand due to financial demands and rename their series EA Sports FC. People will continue to say ‘Let’s have a game of FIFA’ for a few years to come, but it really is the end of an era.
We’ve reached the point where Fortnite nostalgia is a viable marketing ploy. Indeed, a very successful one. Players came flooding back to Epic’s cash cow when the ‘original’ island was reintroduced, effectively taking the game back to square one for a while. Sometimes, like Christmas songs, you just can’t beat the classics.
After more than a decade, we finally got our first glimpse at the next Grand Theft Auto, simply called Grand Theft Auto VI. The teaser video, which was just over a minute long, racked up over 60m views in 24 hours. The trailer confirmed that GTAVI will take us back to Vice City, Rockstar’s version of Miami, but this time in the modern day. It teases a Bonnie and Clyde story amid the backdrop of TikTok satire and stunning graphics. The game releases in 2025, and we can’t wait.
The Nintendo Switch is one of the most successful consoles of all time, mainly due to its ability to switch seamlessly between handheld and TV mode. This year, Nintendo started showing their next generation console behind closed doors to developers, with reports that it is a handheld as powerful as a PS4. Although the new machine hasn’t been publicly revealed yet, we expect that to happen in the next 6 months.
In a year where a new Zelda and Bethesda title were released, nobody foresaw that the Game of the Year would be Baldur’s Gate 3. A sequel to a Dungeons and Dragon tie-in from 30 years ago, it took the gaming world by storm with its richly layered characters and reactive story. Choices and consequences really matter in Baldur’s Gate, allowing you to role-play the way you want. A real win for developers Larian - and for the industry as a whole.
Perhaps the most anticipated game of the year was Starfield, the latest from developers Bethesda, creators of the legendary Elder Scrolls series. After many years of waiting, Starfield didn’t quite reach orbit. Although it’s a fine game, and absolutely worth playing, it also feels a little old-fashioned and hollow after a point. Unlike Skyrim, which is still being played ten years later, we suspect Starfield will fade away like a rocket into the darkness.
The gaming industry continued to stratify in 2023, with the biggest getting bigger. Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard for almost $70bn was approved, giving the big MS ownership over World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, to name just a few. Eventually, the biggest AAA games will be owned by just a handful of companies, which may not be healthy for the industry long-term.
Could anyone have predicted the top two movies of 2023 would be Barbie and Super Mario Bros? Certainly, the latter making $1.3BN worldwide was a huge surprise, with many expecting similar dross to previous Mario movies. Instead, we got a decent family film that pays tribute to the games nicely. Buoyed by the success, Nintendo have since announced a Legend of Zelda movie too.
Like many industries, the gaming world was shaken up by the emergence of generative AI in 2023. Tools that help creators make new landscapes, art, dialogue, quests, programming, will only empower small teams and developers. On the other hand, A.I. will almost inevitably encourage corporations to squeeze out human labour too. Interesting times ahead.
As the industry gets bigger and bolder each year, it’s always great to see a simple game that brings us back to the basics – having fun. For the first time in 30 years, Nintendo released a 2D Super Mario that captured that spirit. Super Mario Wonder may not be the biggest game of 2023, but its colour and charm and silliness are a great reminder of what makes games, well, wonderful!
