Starfieldfans might have seemed angry about the game not getting nominated for any awards atThe Game Awards2023, but it seems they haven’t been voting for it much either, as it’s been eliminated from the Player’s Voice awards.
It goes without saying, but 2023 has been one of the strongest years for games in quite some time.Not for the people who make games, mind, but for consumers and players it’s been a massive year. One of the biggest surprises of 2023, though, is the fairly middling reception to Starfield which, despite generally good reviews from critics, failed to light the world on fire andonly got nominated for a single award at TGA 2023.
Over on Twitter,the official Game Awards Twitter account revealed the nominees for the second round of the Player’s Voice award, which lets gamers get in on the voting and choose which 2023 release is their favourite out of a list of 30 potential winners.Although the first round of voting had a lot of different games up for the award, the second round has trimmed things down to just 10 nominees.
Most of the Player’s Voice award nominees aren’t all that surprising, with heavy hitters likeAlan Wake 2,Baldur’s Gate 3,Spider-Man 2, but there are a few notable absences in the move from round one to round two. Most notable of all is Starfield, which went from looking like it might have a shot at the award if all the people upset about its lack of Game of the Year nominations were to vote for it, to being missed out in favour ofGenshin Impactand Honkai Star Rail.
Perhaps even more surprising than Starfield and Final Fantasy 16 being removed from the lineup is the fact that Hogwarts Legacy hasn’t been instantly forgotten like it was when it launched.
It’s true that 2023 has had some unbelievably popular games that had a good chance of pushing Starfield out, but it’s surprising that it’s happened after one round. Also surprising is the fact thatSuper Mario Bros. Wonder, one of the frontrunners for Game of the Year, has also been eliminated from the potential Player’s Voice victory.
Some other notable removals includeFinal Fantasy 16, which was nominated for Best Performance thanks to Ben Starr, andHi-Fi Rush, one of the highest-rated games of the year and Xbox’s true shining game of 2023.
