At the Game Awards 2023, a lot happened that was anticipated, but there were also some surprises. The award for Best Ongoing Game this year went to Cyberpunk 2077 despite strong competition. While this brings much joy to the community, it also causes confusion.
In which category did Cyberpunk 2077 win? At the Game Awards 2023, Cyberpunk 2077 was honored as Best Ongoing Game. In this category, the game from CD Projekt Red competed against the following opponents:
What are the requirements for Best Ongoing Game
? Best Ongoing
is one of a total of 32 categories at the Game Awards 2023. On the award’s homepage, the category is described as follows:
Awarded to a game for the outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.
This usually refers to games that are consistently developed and supplied with fresh content over the years. These are typically long-term supported games with regular patches. In recent years, games like Final Fantasy 14 (2021 and 2022), No Man’s Sky, and Fortnite have won.
Why was Cyberpunk 2077 awarded Best Ongoing Game
when it is already finished?
Is Cyberpunk 2077 an ongoing game? In fact, Cyberpunk 2077 is not an ongoing game like Final Fantasy 14 or Fortnite. The AAA game was released in December 2020. Since then, it has consistently received patches, but these have primarily focused on bug fixes, quality-of-life features, and promised but missing content at launch.
However, CD Projekt Red has kept at it: Patch 1.5 last year ironed out the worst problems. With Version 2.0, Cyberpunk 2077 ultimately became the game that players had been looking forward to since the announcement. With the now newly released and officially final patch 2.1, the developer even implemented a subway.
The release of the DLC Phantom Liberty is more of the ongoing content
needed for a nomination in the category. This, combined with patches 2.0 and 2.1, was the reason for the nomination.
Does Cyberpunk 2077 deserve an award? In short: Yes. Cyberpunk 2077 is an excellent game today that offers many high-quality gaming hours.
Although Cyberpunk 2077 did not meet expectations at launch, CD Projekt Red has really put in the effort over the past two years. Most of the criticisms have been addressed, many bugs have been resolved, and missing content has been added.
Personally, I still miss a multiplayer mode in Night City, but I am very happy with what Cyberpunk 2077 is now without it.
Both the game and the studio definitely deserve an award for all their efforts. Probably, the organizers of the Game Awards thought so too.
Unfortunately, there is no category for Best Comeback
, which is a good thing – we wish all games to be perfect at launch. In this regard, Best Ongoing Game
was probably the most fitting nomination possibility, considering the inclusion of Phantom Liberty and the recent patches.
The reactions of the communities of the other games are mixed
What does the Fortnite community say? In a thread on reddit about Fortnite, where exactly this is lamented, the most upvoted comment from user BloodyTears92 (via reddit) states that Cyberpunk deserves it and Final Fantasy 14 probably would have won otherwise.
Many users agree: MrTripl3M (via reddit) writes that one could definitely congratulate CD Projekt Red for their hard work, but Cyberpunk 2077 is simply not a classic ongoing game. BayleefMaser123 (via reddit) points out that Final Fantasy 14 has won two times recently and users have been upset regardless. Others discuss whether Fortnite delivered enough good content in 2023.
What do the Genshin Impact players say? In a similar thread from the Genshin Impact community (via reddit), users celebrate the strong competition. Although Genshin has had a great year, Baldur’s Gate 3 has absolutely deserved to win Game of the Year. In the post, the great performance of the direct competitor Fortnite is also praised.
The comments below are, however, clear: Players are not frustrated because their favorite lost. They are frustrated because they lost to Cyberpunk 2077. Others, however, join in the praise for Baldur’s Gate 3.
In the communities of Final Fantasy 14 and Apex Legends, things are relatively quiet. The latter is currently mainly discussing the announced collaboration with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
How about you: Do you think Cyberpunk 2077 deserves the award? Who was your favorite? Let us know in the comments.
More about the Game Awards 2023: Game Awards 2023: Time for Muppets, advertisements, and Hollywood, but no time for the most important people of the show
