After over 1.2 million votes and one of the most challenging gauntlets of games to take down with heavy hitters like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has swung above all the competition to become the champion of IGN’s Best Video Game of 2023.
Earlier this month, in partnership with the United States Air Force, we asked you to cast your votes on IGN’s Instagram for this epic battle of 32 of the greatest games 2023 had to offer, and you did not disappoint. There were some incredibly tough matchups in each of the rounds, but it all came down to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom vs. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
While we may have awarded The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as our Best Game of 2023, you made your voices heard and helped Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 take 64% of the votes and seal away Link’s latest adventure like he and Zelda have done to Ganondorf so many times before.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 had a tough quest to win this coveted honor, but it started off with a statement of a victory by winning 97% of the votes in its battle against Exoprimal. In the Round of 16, Spidey went against the behemoth known as Baldur’s Gate 3. This beloved title from Larian Studios took home the game of the year award at The Game Awards and won IGN Awards for Best RPG, PC Game, and PlayStation Game of 2023. Sadly, it couldn’t slow down the dynamic duo of Peter Parker and Miles Morales as Spider-Man 2 secured 70% of the votes.
Alan Wake 2 was Spider-Man 2’s next opponent, but even this supernatural author couldn’t write himself a victory over the spider-men, losing by 75% of the vote. It shouldn’t feel too terrible though, as Alan Wake 2 was given our IGN Awards for the Best Horror Game and Best Xbox Game of 2023.
The stage for the Final Four was then decided, pitting The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom against Resident Evil 4 Remake, and Spider-Man 2 against Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Resident Evil 4 put up a very respectable fight and almost upset Tears of the Kingdom, but it ended up losing 47%-53%. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, on the other hand, went down like all of Spider-Man 2’s foes by a large margin, losing 25%-75%.
Even though we didn’t crown Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 our game of the year, we can’t be too mad. As we said in our review that it “delivers Insomniac’s best tale yet, and despite its open world falling short, is a reliably fun superhero power trip.”
How do you feel about the audience-voted winner of the best game of 2023? Let us know in the comments below which game you believe deserved the spot or why you couldn’t agree more with Marvel’s Spider-Man winning it all!
