The awards season always brings a flurry of anticipation and debate among enthusiasts and industry insiders as they debate which games should win which awards. The Golden Joystick Awards 2023, powered by Intel, is one of the more prominent awarding platform, recognizing and celebrating achievements in the gaming industry. Amidst a diverse array of categories and winners, one of the standout moments was the crowning of Bethesda’s Starfield as the Xbox Game of the Year.
The long voyage for Starfield hasn’t been easy. One could argue the award is a curse, not a boon.
First announced in 2018, Xbox fans breathed a collective sigh of relief when Starfield finally released in September. With Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard dominating headlines, the success of Starfield was crucial for Xbox Studios. Despite mixed reviews, Starfield established itself as a significant release for the year, offering players an expansive open-world RPG experience that is both ambitious and reminiscent of Bethesda’s legacy with titles like Skyrim and Fallout.
Starfield’s victory at the Golden Joystick Awards is notable for several reasons. First, it represents a massive win for its developers, Bethesda, after releasing its first new IP in over two decades. It highlights the studio’s ability to innovate while staying true to its roots. The game’s open-world exploration, intricate shipbuilding, and base building mechanics, along with a vast universe to traverse, have provided players with an immersive and expansive experience. However, it hasn’t been without its shortcomings. Critics and players alike have pointed out issues ranging from technical glitches and underdeveloped game sections to a lack of vehicle usage for planetary exploration, leading to mixed receptions.
To date, Starfield has remained just as controversial. But, perhaps the conversations it continues to generates are just proof of its popularity.
Naysayers aren’t quite convinced though. Winning the Xbox Game of the Year at The Golden Joysticks Awards 2023 is a big deal, but it’s not like Starfield was up against much. The rest of the field included the likes of Chants of Sennaar, Hi-Fi Rush, Planet of Lana, Dead Space Remake, and Pentiment, which aren’t bad games, they just aren’t great. In fact, none of them scored at least a 90 on Metacritic. The closest is Dead Space followed by Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment. As a matter of fact, Starfield isn’t even the best-reviewed game of the bunch.
Not to mention, Baldur’s Gate 3, which won all of the significant awards at The Golden Joystick Awards, including Game of the Year, isn’t available on the Xbox yet – the last we heard, Larian Studios is still optimizing it for the Xbox Series S.
In a way, you could argue that Starfield won the Xbox Game of the Year award by default, mostly because of its broader appeal compared to the polished gameplay and distinct style of Hi-Fi Rush or the masterful horror experience of Dead Space, both of which are relatively niche when compared to Bethesda’s space opera.
Ultimately, as with any awards, the process and outcomes are often subject to debate, further proving the subjective as well as controversial nature of game appreciation and the diverse criteria that different audiences and critics apply when assessing a game’s merit.
Nevertheless, Starfield’s win serves as validation for Bethesda’s efforts and Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media in 2020. Now that Matt Booty is taking a more personal approach to future Bethesda titles, big things are coming for Xbox, which, hopefully, includes The Elder Scrolls 6 before the next Xbox comes out.
