What will be the best game of 2023?

It's getting to that exciting early point in the video game cycle that developers start completing work on next (well, current) gen titles en masse, making full use of the technological potential boasted by the newest consoles — in 2023, the PS5 and Xbox Series X. The best computer games of 2023 are already taking shape.

We've had a taste of what they can do so far: just look at Horizon: Forbidden West on the Sony machine, or the ravishing Forza racing series over on Microsoft avenue. But next year promises to showcase the proper potential of the new generation.

Here's our rolling list of the video games to look out for going into 2023.

Dead Space (Remake)

Release date: 24 January 2023

Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X

When it arrived on consoles in 2008, Dead Space was considered one of the most horrifying video game experiences ever made. Set five hundred years into the future, it centres on an engineer called Isaac investigating the disappearance of his girlfriend Nicole in the wake of a cataclysmic virus-like organism wiping out almost all human life in an outer space colony, leaving horrible monsters — Necromorphs — to stalk the dimly lit halls and tunnels. The upcoming remake retains the same plot, with updated art design, visuals, audio and modernised controls.

Resident Evil 4 (Remake)

Release date: 24 March 2023

Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X

Another classic of the survival horror series, 2005's Resident Evil 4 revolutionised the then nine-year-old series by introducing an over-the-shoulder visual perspective. It too tilted away from ravenous zombies for an all-new biological terror: the Ganados, villagers in rural Spain forcedly infected with a mind-controlling parasite by a cult with a view on world domination. Like Dead Space, this remake is set to stick to the original script, with a similar smorgasbord of technical upgrades to bring the game into the new decade.

Kerbal Space Program 2

Release date: Q1 2023

Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

Beloved by flight sim enthusiasts, For All Mankind fans and ‘60s retrofuture nostalgists alike, 2015's Kerbal Space Program put the player in the director’s chair of a space exploration program, run by the titular Kerbals, a humanoid race of jolly green aliens. The game was broadly celebrated by critics for its close-to-life physics engine, which employed proper Newtonian dynamics for a realistic enough experience of launching a real-world space rocket. It further allowed the player to recreate some of the most famous space missions, from Apollo 11 to the launch of the ISS. But that was eight whole years ago: now comes Kerbal 2, which promises the introduction of better graphics, off-world colonies and, finally, multiplayer.

Starfield

Release date: Q1/Q2 2023

Platform: PC, Xbox Series X

Is there a developer out there so divisive as Bethesda? Long known for their terrific albeit buggy open-world RPGs, from Fallout 3 to their arguable opus, Skyrim, Todd Howard's team took a lot of flack after the fumbled release of Fallout 76, their first multiplayer title, shipping stuffed with game-breaking bugs and limited in the way of content. Many hope, then, that Starfield will be a return to form for the dev: it's their first original property in more than two decades, a No Man's Sky-esque action RPG wherein the player explores the cosmos, gathering vital resources along the way. Whatever the case, the game's vision of humanity as a spacefaring people three hundred years from now is a darn sight more optimistic than the nuclear hellfire of the Fallout franchise.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Release date: Q1/Q2 2023

Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has nothing to do with the continuity set by the D.C. Extended Universe, even if a number of the in-game squad members are the same as in James Gunn's motley crew. So what has everyone so bloody excited? Rocksteady, that's what. The developer originally worked on the acclaimed Arkham trilogy, unanimously considered the best video game adaptation of the Batman character and comics. While we're not entirely sure how much Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will continue the original story set by the Arkham games, we do know it's set in the “Arkhamverse,” with killer graphics and a no-doubt brilliant open world. The object? Assassinate Superman, The Flash and Green Lantern, all of whom have been brainwashed by the Brainiac.

Breath of the Wild 2

Release date: Q2 2023

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Our very first glimpse of the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, arguably the Nintendo Switch's most popular game (seriously, aside from Animal Crossing over the pandemic, we'd love to know if there's any other title single-handedly propping up a console like it has), came at E3 four years ago. 2021 gave us a gorgeous gameplay trailer, showing off the land of Hyrule in all of its pastoral glory. Now, we're seemingly months away, with series producer Eiji Aonuma explicitly stating the release to be around Spring 2023. We can't wait to get back in Link's chic little boots.

Final Fantasy XVI

Release date: Q2/Q3 2023

Platform: PS5

Cue the well-trodden meme: “Anaaaaaather one?” Yep, that's right: the latest instalment in the seemingly unending, albeit emblematic RPG series Final Fantasy is coming to the PS5 next year, once again developed by Square Enix. This one, according to the premise shared online, is set in “the land of Valisthea,” where great factions are formed around “Mothercrystals," towering mountains of aether-producing crystal. Very much your fantasy kinda schtick. Now, the nebulous “Blight” threatens to destroy the uneasy peace between these realms. Presumably, we'll be stuck in the middle of it all. Damn main character syndrome.

Final Fantasy VII Remake: Rebirth

Release date: Q4 2023

Platform: PS5

The remake of Final Fantasy VII, unlike the original game, is actually a three-part “retelling and expansion” of the source material — and Rebirth, touted for release in the winter next year, is part dos. Of course, VII, which originally released on the PS1 back in 1997, is broadly considered one of the best video games ever made, with its coterie of iconic characters (including a protagonist called ‘Cloud Strife,’ which has to go down in history as one of the better titles in fiction) and timeless gameplay systems. No pressure, then.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Release date: TBC 2023

Platform: PS5

Insomniac set a new bar for superhero video games with Marvel's Spider-Man on the PS4, combining thrilling action and gameplay with industry-leading visuals for an experience unmatched to this day. Until Spider-Man 2 comes out, that is: the sequel is set to introduce Miles Morales to the main stage following his popular titular spin-off (a PS5 launch title), along with the villainous, snarling symbiote Venom.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Release date: TBC 2023

Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X

Here it is, the much-anticipated follow-up from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, considered among the greats of the Star Wars video game adaptations (and trust us, from the Battlefront series to classics like Rogue Squadrons, there've been a lot). Survivor is set to continue the story of Padawan Cal Kestis five years after the events of the first one, with our favourite droid BD-1 too reprising. We can't wait.

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