The Game Awards 2023 have concluded, leaving many developers with awards in hand and onlookers with amazing new games to look forward to. While the show was terrific for the most part, rumors and general community hearsay had many of us expecting different world premieres going into the event. Having said that, here’s a personal opinion on what the 5 biggest upsets from The Game Awards 2023 were.

Death Stranding 2

Now to address the elephant in the room, Kojima-san might’ve forgotten to bring the Death Stranding 2 trailer with him. Nobody in the world could’ve guessed Kojima was going to tease his upcoming Xbox Cloud game during the TGA, especially since he said that it was many years away – which it likely still is, but an announcement this soon, and like this, is upsetting.

OD’s reveal was so weird and disorienting that Kojima had to say it out loud “Don’t get me wrong, this is a game”. I’m not doubting the legendary Hideo Kojima’s vision but he could’ve shown some gameplay or anything remotely resembling as such to make people fascinated. As it is right now, they’re more baffled than excited.

Spider-Man 2 Venom

You’d think getting nominated in 7 categories, including best game direction, best narrative, and game of the year, would at least guarantee you one award, but Insomniac Games seems to have been robbed blind. That doesn’t mean the games that did win didn’t deserve it, it’s just a giant upset to see Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 not win a single award despite becoming PlayStation’s fastest-selling title and topping the unbelievably hard-to-reach 90+ Metascore. Ah well, maybe in TGA 2029 when Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 releases – probably.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Since FromSoftware announced Armored Core VI last year at TGA, everyone thought they’d make an appearance with Shadow of the Erdtree this year as well, but they didn’t, and they should have.

It’s an expansion after all. If I had to guess, while an Elden Ring DLC is music to Souls fans, the majority would prefer an entirely new experience over an expansion if it compromises development on other, more major, projects.

Hellblade 2

When Xbox said to tune into The Game Awards, all of us expected to see Hellblade 2, and all of us also expected to see a release date trailer.

While we did see an awesome new gameplay trailer with some cinematics, it didn’t mention any release date whatsoever which is a big upset since it’s been years and years of Ninja Theory teasing this game. Anyhow, 2024 is in a few weeks and we’ll likely see another Xbox event or showcase in which they’ll finally do the deed.

Dishonored 2

The biggest upset at The Game Awards was Arkane Lyon’s Blade game. Before you hold a gun to my head, it’s not the fact that they revealed a Blade game that is a giant upset, but the fact that they aren’t working on Dishonored 3.

Right before The Game Awards went live, rumors about Dishonored 3 being at TGA spread like wildfire, and when fans saw Dinga Bakaba in the audience, Dishonored 3 felt all but confirmed. The rumors, however, went up in smoke as fast as they had ignited. Arkane Lyon’s Marvel collaboration was one of the best announcements during the show and has left many awe-struck, but at the same time, it’s crushed Dishonored fans who haven’t visited the franchise since 2017.

Is there anything you wanted that was missing at The Game Awards?

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest news and exclusive leaks every week! No Spam.