Forza Motorsport was one of the biggest racing releases of 2023, which was reflected in The Game Awards 2023. At the show, Forza Motorsport was nominated for two awards, and it won both of them.
Forza Motorsport wins Best Sports / Racing award
At the Game Awards 2023, Forza Motorsport won the Best Sports / Racing award, beating F1 23, The Crew Motorfest, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged, and EA Sports FC 24.
This wasn’t the only award it picked up either, as Forza Motorsport also took the crown for Innovation in Accessibility. Diablo IV, Hi-Fi Rush, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Mortal Kombat 1, and Street Fighter 6 were also nominated.
Turn 10 responded to the awards in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter): “Thank you Forza fans for voting #ForzaMotorsport to be your Best Sports/Racing Game of 2023 at @TheGameAwards! We are truly honoured and humbled for this recognition. See you at the racetrack!”
Elsewhere, Gran Turismo 7 was nominated for Best VR/AR Game for its phenomenal PSVR2 support but was beaten by Resident Evil Village VR Mode. Gran Turismo 7 won the Best Sports / Racing category at The Game Awards 2022, however.
The Gran Turismo movie and Twisted Metal TV series were also nominated for Best Adaptation, but were dethroned by The Last of Us.
While we’re glad to see racing games get more recognition at The Game Awards 2023, the genre deserves its own category instead of being lumbered with football games.
Was Forza Motorsport a worthy winner?
Forza Motorsport picking up the Best Sports/Racing award has been divisive in the sim racing community. Some fans feel Forza Motorsport doesn’t deserve the award after it was plagued with game-breaking bugs at launch. These issues ranged from performance problems to save files being corrupted, causing frustrated players to lose their career progress.
“What an insult,” racing game YouTuber Blackpanthaa bluntly responded on X. On Reddit, a user thought “there was no competition” for the Best Sports / Racing Game award.
Conversely, another Reddit didn’t think Forza Motorsport was a worthy winner because “it's full of technical issues and performance is very poor on all systems.” Unfortunately, this has been a common issue for triple-A releases this year, with EA Sports WRC also launching with graphics and performance issues.
Whether Forza Motorsport is a worthy winner is debatable, but we enjoyed our time with it. With a redesigned Career Mode, an XP system that encourages progression, and dynamic weather and time of day on every track, it’s certainly a worthy Gran Turismo competitor.
The Crew Motorfest would also have been a worthy winner. With a vibrant open world, slick presentation, and terrific arcade car handling, Ubisoft's open-world racer was one of the best surprises of the year and a substantial improvement over The Crew 2. Both The Crew Motorfest and Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 were more polished than Forza Motorsport at launch.
As for F1 23, it arguably didn't do enough to improve on its predecessor despite introducing F1 World and Braking Point 2.
Do you agree with the Best Racing/Sports category winner?
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