Our Game of the Year coverage continues with the Best PS5, PS4 Developer of 2023, of which a top four has been put together by the Push Square editorial team. Here we'll crown the best studio of the year and recognise teams that have gone above and beyond for their titles, from releasing lots of games within the 12-month period to those supporting them after launch.
Bronze Trophy: CD Projekt RED (Cyberpunk 2077)
And with that, the redemption arc is complete. Having released Cyberpunk 2077 in a disastrous state three years ago, CD Projekt RED has managed to finish the turnaround with the launch of the huge 2.0 update for the base game and then a significant expansion in Phantom Liberty. Since the Polish developer has been working to fix errors it made to begin with — and the fact the team also featured in last year's deliberations for this same category — we've decided to remain reserved with its positioning. Still, CD Projekt RED finally got Cyberpunk 2077 where it needed to be, and that's worth praising.
Silver Trophy: Geometric Interactive (Cocoon)
Launching your first-ever game must be a very difficult task, but what happens when it turns out to be one of the best games in the indie scene for years? While some of its employees got their start at Limbo, Inside studio Playdead, the Danish outfit Geometric Interactive managed exactly that in Cocoon: a stellar puzzle title that must go down as one of the best independent debut games ever. Designed around a core mechanic of carrying worlds on your back and being able to dive into them to solve brain teasers and create open paths elsewhere, it's a triumph more people need to play.
Gold Trophy: Capcom (Resident Evil 4, Street Fighter 6, Exoprimal, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, and PSVR2 Support)
Capcom has been consistently excellent for a very long time now, but in 2023, it feels like its output has gone through the roof. Resident Evil 4 and Street Fighter 6 are both Game of the Year contenders, Nintendo DS classic Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective was brought back, and the likeable Exoprimal proved better than expected. Then, the Japanese developer updated our 2021 Game of the Year Resident Evil Village with PSVR2 support, and did the same for Resident Evil 4 late in the day. Across a 12-month period, that's an incredible amount of releases and support. Capcom has been a fantastic developer for a long time now, but in 2023, it's hit a new peak.
Platinum Trophy: Larian Studios (Baldur's Gate 3)
At the start of this year, imagine being told The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would be comfortably beaten to Game of the Year and a number of other categories at The Game Awards. You would have been laughed out of the building, but fast-forward 12 months and that's exactly what's happened: a computer RPG by the name of Baldur's Gate 3 is the name on everyone's lips as they look to crown 2023's best.
For that, Belgian developer Larian Studios will forever be remembered. The PS5 version was released in September, and since then, it feels like either a substantial update or bug-catching hotfix has arrived every other day. Not only has the team released an RPG all-timer, but it's also committed to improving it for months — perhaps even years — afterwards. It was already generating a big buzz with Divinity: Original Sin II, but now Larian Studios has hit the big time; Baldur's Gate 3 will be studied for a generation and fellow developers will aspire to even come close to matching its quality.
Honourable Mentions: Hoyoverse, Insomniac Games, and RGG Studio.
What was your favourite PS5, PS4 developer of 2023? Place a vote in our poll and then explain your personal pick in the comments below. For further Game of the Year coverage, click the link.
Who was your favourite PS5, PS4 developer of 2023? (401 votes)
- Capcom
- CD Projekt RED
- Geometric Interactive0%
- Hoyoverse
- Insomniac Games
- Larian Studios
- RGG Studio
- Other
Comments 36
I think Larian and Capcom are the two closest for the best game developer. One developer put all of their attention and resources into not only one phenomenal game, but also the community of that game. The other released multiple fan favorites in beloved series, have announced exciting upcoming games, and has been rereleasing a lot of older games as well. They’re like a way higher level RGG. I know a lot of people are gonna say Insomniac but I think it’s less for this year and more for the PS5 gen in general, not to mention how I feel like Spider-Man 2 definitely was not that polished and rich as some other games released by developers this year despite having Sony backing.
For me neowiz and hexworks without a doubt. The amount of support given to their respective titles based on feedback was superb and they are tiny studios compared to the others with a budget that won't even compare to the others lunch bills. I hope there is much,much more to come from these 2 devs in the future.
My vote goes to Capcom, they have been smashing it out year after year lately and are pretty consistent. Not too sure about Larian as I haven't played any of their games but they did put out an unfinished BG3 that needed a patched in epilogue, a patch to fix over 1000+ things and then had issues getting the game running on Xbox, so yeah in my opinion Capcom deserves it more.
Also I have to give credit to Sabotage Studios (Sea of Stars) for making an incredible game that's a huge throw back to classic JRPG's and in return getting some exceptional reviews. Going forward I think most people will be looking forward to what this developer produces.
Capgod is 100% back.
if capgods back where’s the love for exoprimal ? the only successful mp they have is street fighter
Gotta disagree with that Platinum, Capcom was hitting left and right with their games this year and even last year.
@nomither6 Never heard of Monster Hunter?
Clearly Capcom deserved it. Not even close. Only misstep for me was not integrating trophy support into Village VR
@Splat i forgot about it. but that’s a good one. i can’t deny capcoms success
Capcum deserves the platinum🗿
@Northern_munkey I’d echo that. Lies of P and Sanabi are both fantastic, and Hex creating a new studio to do LOTF and the dev hell it went through. Highly underrated Gunfire Games too who crushed it with Remnant 2 in every way.
CD Projekt Red because I'm a Cybershill.
Capcom.
While Larian had the best game in BG3. The fact Capcom have released several good games. All of good quality and you haven’t even mentioned the ps5 ports of rise/sunbreak that is another 9/10 game.
Edit - cd projekt shouldn’t be on here for releasing JUST the CP2077 expansion.
@liamcroft psst, the bit in bold in the first sentence. Great list, really hard to call the top two!
My vote would probably go to Capcom but Larian are a worthy choice also. I have to give credit to CD Projekt RED too for sticking with Cyberpunk and ultimately turning it into a great game. I've yet to play Cocoon so can't comment on that one.
Wooden trophy: Daedalic Entertainment, mostly known for their state of the art LOTR: Gollum
Larian studio.capcom.insomniac.square enix.etc.it was a cool 2023 for video games.word up son
Capcom deserves it. With all the games they released, especially quality games, they deserve the nod.
Larian might’ve made a great game, but my copy of it didn’t work due to bugs, so it’s hard to toss them that praise.
How is Spiderman 2 your game of the year but its developers don't make top 4
Don't forget about Remedy
@TheFakulty don’t come here using logic!
@Czar_Khastik don’t give Sony any ideas on another trophy type 😂😂 although I’d love to collect wooden trophies
@UltimateOtaku91 "but they did put out an unfinished BG3 that needed a patched in epilogue, a patch to fix over 1000+ things and then had issues getting the game running on Xbox"
Ever since this site named their goty you have been on a revenge fuel warpath against BG3, are you really trying to overcompensate for the people that are bashing SM2?
You admitted to not playing either so why does it bother you so much that one gets bashed over the other?! sadly everyone knows the answer already.
@Czar_Khastik
Lead Trophy: GameMill Entertainment, for two of the best games this year, Skull Island: Rise of Kong and Walking Dead: Destinies
Capcom are at the top of their game, not to mention the Rise/Sunbreak content across all platforms - really great stuff.
Nice to see the Cocoon devs get some love also, awesome little game that deserves recognition
Great list! Am happy to see the omission of soulless gacha, Gaas and souls-developers all of which I just don't understand.
Yeah Capcom for me too, solid year for them and having strong PSVR2 support is awesome - leading by example!
You do not get lauded for fixing something you launched broken. Period.
At best you repair your reputation to pre-launch state. Personally, the assumption is now their next game will launch busted too and it will eventually be playable 3 years later.
Next game launched successfully puts their reputation on track to where it was prior to 2077s launch.
@Northern_munkey
As someone who Platinumed Lies of P, I massively agree. Cannot wait for the DLC and Lies of P 2.
However, I keep seeing Lies of P praised in the same sentence as Lords of the Fallen.
Did we play the same game? I thought it was a buggy ugly mess. The framerate is atrocious, a lot of the design of the areas is pretty poor in my opinion. Ugly world, boring worldbuilding. Poor story. Only a few interesting bosses. Multiplayer pretty busted on launch.
I didnt play the original LOTF game but if this game vastly improves on it, jesus, LOTF (2014) must have been borderline unplayable.
@LordAinsley I had no issues with lords of the fallen.
Capcom's redemption arc from greedy mictrotransaction abusers has been great, but I've been a fan of Larian since Divinity 2 back in 2009 and they have consistently improved with each game they've made so my vote will go for them any time.
Capcom had BOTH quality and quantity. Larian had one great game that despite years of Early access came out bug-ridden and unfinished. It may be a great game but BG3 wasn't ready at launch.
BG3 is outrageously fantastic, but the best thing Larian did while developing it is avoid crunch like the plague! 👍🏼
I will never, EVER, forget how dedicated Capcom was to the Dreamcast, and for that, I will always love them!
Remedy should have been on the list, probably instead of CD Project Red. I don't really count getting a game into the condition it should have been in at launch as a 'redemption arc'.
@UltimateOtaku91 I wouldn’t call BG3 unfinished at launch. The epilogue was basically free DLC, it was an added bonus that didn’t need to be there but rounded out some stories nicely. They also added thousands of lines of dialogue for it. They did it because they wanted to and because they thought people would like it, not because the game was unfinished.
Did it have bugs on launch? Yes, most of them were in Act 3 and were fixed before the majority of the player base ever got there. Many of the fixes have been continued performance improvements and optimizations. I got BG3 on launch, I have a 4 year old PC and ran it on high settings, I played 100 hours in the first 2 weeks and I experienced a little bit of what I would call “jank” at certain times, but no bugs that stuck out to me in any way.
Again, yes there were bugs and I know that there was one act 3 bug that basically prevented you from progressing if you played things a certain way (keep in mind there are thousands of ways to progress things in this game and most quests are optional so this wasn’t a universally game breaking thing). But you are trying to paint this picture and calling a studio that is giving their game some of the better and faster immediate post launch support that we have seen in recent years and instead saying that the game was unfinished/broken because the patches improved a significant numbers of things each time.
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