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Xbox fans are shocked by massive snub at this year’s biggest game awards

But none of the Big Three lead the pack in terms of nominations.

2023 HAS been one of the biggest ever years for games, with dozens of incredible releases.

With so many games deserving of the Game of the Year award, it was obvious that something would have to miss out.

Starfield was only nominated in one category this year.
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Starfield was only nominated in one category this year.Credit: Bethesda

However, it seems Xbox bore the brunt of disappointments this year, with some of Xbox’s biggest games hardly getting mentioned.

The game that everyone was expecting to pick up a number of awards was almost entirely absent from the event.

Bethesda’s huge open-world Starfield received just one nomination for Best Role-Playing Game.

In fact, it was one of Xbox’s most underappreciated games this year, behind Redfall, which received poor review scores.

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On the positive side for Xbox, one of its surprise hits from this year was well recognised.

Hi-Fi Rush was released the day it was announced and managed to pick up four nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Score & Music, Best Audio Design, and Innovation in Accessibility.

Xbox’s version of a Fall Guys-style party game, Party Animals, did surprisingly well with two nominations for Best Family Game, and Best Multiplayer.

PlayStation fared far better than Xbox, with both Final Fantasy 16 and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 being nominated for a number of awards.

Final Fantasy 16 was nominated for a number of awards, including Best Narrative, Best Role-Playing Game, Best Score & Music, and Best Performance.

Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth also picked up a Most Anticipated Game nomination.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 did even better than this, with six nominations for Game of the Year, Best Direction, Best Audio Design, Best Performance, Innovation in Accessibility, and Best Action/Adventure Game.

Nintendo was still the biggest winner of the ‘Big Three’ with 13 nominations across its first-party games.

This includes nominations for the two biggest categories, Game of the Year and Best Direction, for both Tears of the Kingdom, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

The most nominated game this year is a title shared by both Alan Wake 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3, which both picked up eight nominations.

If you want to read about everything awards, then check out our full list of Game Awards categories, nominees, and winner predictions.


Written by Georgina Young on behalf of .

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