Siliconera’s Xbox Game of the Year 2023

The Xbox Series X and S has increasingly been less of a platform for buying games and more of one for Game Pass subscriptions. It’s no surprise, then, that all three of our Xbox Game of the Year 2023 selections appear on the service. Check out our picks below, and keep checking back this week for more awards!

These awards represent the consensus of the Siliconera staff. For more of the year’s award selections, check out our Game of the Year 2023 archive.

Hi-Fi Rush

We say games “came out of nowhere” a lot, but rarely do games go from unannounced to out in one fell swoop, and even more rarely are they this polished and stylish. Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush brings rhythm into its action, with frantic musical gameplay and bright environments that echo a bit of that old Jet Set Radio feel. But it’s very much its own thing! And we didn’t forget about it, even after many packed months. If you missed it, maybe give it a look.

Starfield

While Hi-Fi Rush was a shadowdrop, Starfield is definitely the opposite: rumbling to life slowly at Bethesda over decades and officially announced nearly a decade ago. It’s enormous, full of systems and conversations and worlds to explore. And after a few decades of Fallout and Elder Scrolls games? Yeah, we’re psyched to see a different sort of environment for Bethesda’s signature brand of storytelling.

Siliconera Xbox Game of the Year Winner: Sea of Stars

There have been many games in recent years that play off the nostalgia of the Chrono Trigger era, but few have managed to recapture that magic. Sea of Stars goes past the wink-wink-nudge-nudge referential approach, and delivers a world of characters that is worthy of its own generation of future nostalgia plays. The semi-active combat and interesting puzzles keep players engaged, and the execution of its pixel art style is exactly what you’d want. That makes it our Xbox Game of the Year 2023.