After cleaning up the Nintendo Switch 2023 Game of the Year contest (with one of the biggest sweeps of the year), Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is back for the Overall 2023 Game of the Year award here at Destructoid. Act surprised!
Look, as much as I’d like to talk about Tears of the Kingdom at length again, I figured it was a good time to point out some past winners and highlight some high hopes for 2024.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of four Nintendo-published GOTY winners
In the history of Destructoid’s Game of the Year awards (dating back to 2007), four Nintendo-published games have won: Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bayonetta 2, Breath of the Wild, and now, Tears of the Kingdom. Another long-term winner here is Sony, who published Uncharted 2, The Last of Us, 2018’s God of War, and even Bloodborne. Valve has a strong presence with Portal 2 and Left 4 Dead, and Chicory: A Colorful Tale is our most punk-rock winner.
Facilitating these awards with the team is consistently one of my favorite events of the year, and I hope you’ve enjoyed them as much as us.
Here’s hoping 2024 is a good one
2023 was rough. The gaming industry layoffs were unending, and E3 finally succumbed to its wounds. 2024 will be the first 100% confirmed non-E3 year since the expo started. As someone who grew up wanting to go to E3 (and did!), it’s weird. During the last few years folks held out hope that it would come back, and in early 2019, we were all assuming E3 would happen on schedule. Now we’re burying it.
There’s more to come, too, and not all of it is bad. Tons of previously delayed games will now see the light of day in 2024. March, as is becoming the norm, is stacked (Dragon’s Dogma 2, Alone in the Dark, Princess Peach: Showtime, Rise of the Ronin, Homeworld 3). We also likely haven’t seen the end of Embracer Group shenanigans, which will have rippling effects throughout the sector.
For now, we can enjoy the rest of what 2023 has to offer and reflect on the past. Take a look at some of our previous winners!
Destructoid’s previous Game of the Year winners:
2022 – Elden Ring
2021 – Chicory: A Colorful Tale
2020 – Hades
2019 – The Outer Worlds
2018 – God of War
2017 – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2016 – Overwatch
2015 – Bloodborne
2014 – Bayonetta 2
2013 – The Last of Us
2012 – Telltale’s The Walking Dead
2011 – Portal 2
2010 – Super Mario Galaxy 2
2009 – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2008 – Left 4 Dead
2007 – BioShock
