There's no denying it's felt like a fantastic year for video games so far. 2023 has delivered some absolute bangers such as Alan Wake 2, Resident Evil 4 Remake and Baldur's Gate 3, alongside other platform exclusives like Nintendo's Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Data from Metacritic suggests that the scores back up this general feeling as well, as gathered by outlet Axios.
To put it straight, 2023 has seen the most 90+ rated games on Metacritic in one year for the last two decades. We've had 25 titles get an average critic score of 90 or more this year, contributing to one of those 'industry high points' we all feel - as great games seem to come out left, right and centre.
When you drop just below that 90 average, we've had some other really good offerings this year too. Xbox's Hi-Fi RUSH landed in January with an 87 average, with games like Dead Space and Armored Core 6 also just missing out on that coveted 90+ score.
While a couple of other Xbox exclusives have perhaps landed a little lower than we'd have liked, you can't say they've scored poorly in the grand scheme of things. September's Starfield and October's Forza Motorsport ended up with scores of 83 and 85 respectively - two relatively high ratings all things considered.
Anyway, we just thought we'd bring this to your attention as this is a great observation from Axios here. People have started to shout about 2023 being one of the best years ever in gaming, and as it turns out, the scores are beginning to back that feeling up.