This year has been, without a doubt, one of the best years in the history of the gaming industry. While this was our feeling looking at the best games released this year, it appears that 2023 has set a new record.
With titles like Baldur’s Gate 3, Resident Evil 4 Remake, and Spider-Man 2 securing a score over 90 on Metacritic, 2023 has seen more games with this score than in any year of the last two decades.
Why it matters: A score of 90/100 is incredibly difficult to achieve on Metacritic. Beloved releases like Marvel’s Spider-Man and Ghost of Tsushima have been unable to achieve such scores in the past.
According to a report, 25 games have achieved a score of 90/100 on Metacritic this year. This is a new record, though it is important to note that games that have achieved this score on even one platform are included.
This means that games like Alan Wake 2, which received an overall rating lower than 90/100, are included in the list because of the 95/100 rating for the Xbox version. With an average of 12-13 games reaching this score each year, 2023 has been a notable step up.
Games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom led the Metacritic charts in 2023. With both games being rated 96/100, they have become shining examples of high-quality AAA gaming.
Re-releases were prominently featured in the rankings. Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 Remake is still the fifth-best-rated game of 2023, scoring 93/100 and selling 5 million copies.
Moreover, the industry has seen the redemption of Cyberpunk 2077 this year. While CDPR did not release a new game, its Phantom Liberty expansion stayed at the 90/100 baseline to make it to the list.
Indie hits like Dave the Diver and Sea of Stars also ensured that the list of Metacritic’s best-rated games had a lot of variety to offer.
We believe this year was so stacked that some high-quality games were overshadowed by the best releases. Games like Starfield are still incredible despite failing to stay above 90/100.
Other somewhat underrated titles include the likes of Hi-Fi Rush, Armored Core 6, Dead Space Remake, and Hogwarts Legacy.
Nonetheless, while 2023 is almost over, we still have some anticipated titles like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora to look forward to. Keeping such games in mind, we might have to wait many years to see a similar era for gaming again.
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[News Reporter]
Abiyan is on track to complete his Computer Science bachelor’s degree. His enthusiasm for writing and gaming motivates him to keep readers and gamers updated with the latest information from the industry. In his free time, Abiyan enjoys playing Dota 2 and Rocket League. Abiyan has also been cited in reputed websites such as Kitguru, Comicbook, GamingBible, Eurogamer and Gamingbolt.
