ESA ends E3 after 28 years, citing waning interest - despite an attempted revival, the 2023 event was canceled. Their statement emphasises ESA’s ongoing commitment to industry advocacy, but the once iconic gaming showcase itself has reached its final chapter. Thanks for the memories indeed.

After only four days, The Day Before has been removed from Steam after becoming one of the platforms worst reviewed releases. If that wasn’t stunning enough, the studio behind it, FNTASTIC, has announced their complete, immediate closure and CEO Eduard Gotovtsev’s social accounts are seemingly wiped clean. Publisher Mytona are managing refunds. Colossal oof.

As previously mentioned, 2023 was rough for game devs, but there’s no denying it was a remarkable year for releases. So given all the amazing new games I played this year, it says even more about how special Baldur’s Gate 3 was - because when it came time to think about GOTY, it was not even close. BG3 is an incredibly special, once in a generation game the likes of which we likely won’t see again for some time.

Epic continues to push the Fortnite-as-a-platform strat. Understandably not as deep as LEGO Fortnite, but a fun little racing game with a big emphasis on drifting and obstacles reminiscent of Mario Kart, and wild courses à la Trackmania. Be prepared to feel like Schumacher as you first place Bronze and Silver ranks only to be met with your first decent human opponents and summarily crushed. Fun though!

What I thought would be a quick, relatively low-effort brand collaboration turns out to be a remarkably fleshed out exploration/building/survival game with an incredible level of polish. A bit of Minecraft, a tiny bit of Animal Crossing, and even rolling in combat - sooo, we’re a soulslike now? Fun game, and the fact that Epic remade over 1,200 skins to suit the LEGO-verse is crazy in itself.

I’m generally not a massive competitive shooter fan, but I really like THE FINALS. Embark’s use of UE5, the visual design and aesthetic drew me in - the addictive, easy to pick up, hard to master movement and combat kept me going. The environmental destruction stuff is nuts. Classes are interesting and interplay well, but this coupled with being objective-based also means playing with randos can be… rough.

TGA 2023 has come and gone, with mostly expected results. Baldur’s Gate 3 deservedly cleaned up, securing Game of the Year, Best Community Support, Best RPG, Best Multiplayer, and the Player’s Voice Award. Alan Wake 2 closely followed with wins in Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Art Direction categories. Check all the categories and winners here.

Set for a 2025 release, Capcom have announced the next in their mega franchise, Monster Hunter Wilds. Not heaps of info yet, but I’ve always really wanted to sink hundreds of hours into this genre and just never found one that really jived with me. Here’s hoping this is the one!

After seven years of free No Man’s Sky patches and overwhelmingly redeeming their reputation, Sean Murray and Hello Games are ready to show off their next big venture: Light No Fire. “A game about adventure, building, survival and exploration together. Set on a fantasy planet the size of Earth, it brings the depth of a role playing game to the freedom of a survival sandbox.”

Ex-The Division devs reveal a new open-world extraction shooter, Exoborne. A press release provides more info, emphasizing gear over RPG mechanics, with the focus being on the Exo-Rig’s weapons, upgrades and traversal with built-in tools like grappling hooks and gliders.