Why Did Starfield Fail to Impress the Juries at the Game Awards 2023?

The nominations list for The Games Awards 2023 is finally out. This year, the jury and fans had a tough time selecting titles to be nominated as many stellar entries graced the gaming industry. Despite this, they did a well-founded job of listing the nominees. But one sector of fans who would be upset with the list will be Starfield fans.

Xbox only got 10 nominations across various categories as compared to PlayStation’s 13 and Nintendo’s 15. Furthermore, their platform-exclusive release this year, Starfield, also missed out on the GOTY 2023 race. This raises a question as to why Starfield failed to impress the juries at The Game Awards 2023.

The procedure of selecting The Game Awards nominees

Before diving into why Starfield did not get nominated, let’s look at how GOTY nominees are selected. The process begins with over 100 video game publishers and websites collectively naming six games as nominees. The six most-voted games are selected as the finalists. After the nominees are selected, the winner is chosen by a combined vote between the jury (90 percent) and public voting (10 percent).

Surprisingly, this year all the nominees are the next entries of well-established franchises. The complete list of nominees is as follows:

1. Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment)
2. Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
3. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games)
4. Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
5. Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo)
6. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)

This list has caused some controversy online. Many netizens are demanding an answer from juries to explain why the list favors well-established franchises. They are also asking why new IPs like Hogwarts Legacy and Starfield were completely sidelined. And the answer lies in the games’ gameplay itself.

The possible reason why Starfield was not selected for GOTY

The year continues Bethesda’s bad luck in the Game of the Year category. Bethesda is the most nominated company without a win for GOTY – Fallout 4 (2015), Doom (2016), Doom Eternal (2020), and Deathloop (2021). Unfortunately, they have never been able to win this prestigious award. This year furthers their unwanted streak as they failed to even secure a nomination.

This has something to do with the types of games they create. Undoubtedly, Bethesda has created titles that have etched their names in the memories of fans. But their games are also something that has a steep learning curve. Many players have to play their titles for weeks or even months before they start to ease into it. Players have a similar problem with Starfield too. This is evident from the players currently playing the game.

According to Steambase data, Starfield is averaging around 15,000 concurrent players on PC. While this may look like a big number at first, it is lower than Skyrim, which Bethesda released 12 years ago. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is currently averaging over 17,000 concurrent players on PC. However, this data is only about players on PC. Starfield is still running strong on Xbox Game Pass and Series X/S. But comparing Starfield’s data to one of the titles nominated for GOTY shows a different picture.

One of the surprising releases of this year ought to be Baldur’s Gate 3. This game has single-handedly brought back the interest of fans in turn-based games. At the time of this writing, according to Steambase data, there were over 80,000 players enjoying the game concurrently on PC. The fans and critics are speaking highly about BG3 for something extraordinary. And this may be another reason why Starfield failed to impress the juries.

Starfield feels like a classic Bethesda game in a new skin

At first glance, Starfield is a truly ambitious project. Bethesda tried their hands on a new take on space-based games. Instead of the usual combats and spaceship fights, they brought in an RPG element to the game. These elements, however, turned the game into yet another Bethesda title. While Starfield is a new IP from Bethesda after 25 years, after playing the game many players called it ‘Skyrim based in Space’.

Read More: Opinion: Baldur’s Gate 3 Winning Big at the Golden Joystick Awards a Trailer for the Game Awards 2023?

Probably this was one of the reasons why Starfield failed to impress the juries as they did not evolve out of their shell much. The UI choices, graphics quality running at 30 FPS, and fishbowl-like level design would have led them to think Bethesda has become stagnant with their development process. But this setback also provides Bethesda a reason to bounce back.

They have been one of the longest-running studios in the game industry. While their latest IP may have fumbled on this year’s Game Awards 2023, they can develop their next title along with this criticism. What Bethesda does with their upcoming title The Elder Scrolls VI will be interesting to watch. Unfortunately, Starfield is out from the GOTY race. But all hope is not lost as Starfield can still win in the Best RPG category in Game Awards 2023.

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