Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has been named as game of the year 2023 in a poll by Pubity, comprehensively beating Super Mario Bros Wonder in the final by 71% to 29%.
The poll, devised as a knockout tournament by Pubity, saw followers vote for their favourite game over a series of rounds. On its way to the final, Spider-Man 2 beat Hi-Fi Rush, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Hogwarts Legacy.
Meanwhile Nintendo’s latest instalment in the evergreen Mario franchise took on and Beat Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Spider-Man 2, which was developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, was released in October to critical acclaim. When it was released on the PlayStation 5, it sold more than 2.4 million units in the first 24 hours of its release, and five million within 10 days, making it one of the best-selling PS5 games.
The follow-up to 2020’s Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the game’s plot centres on Peter Parker and Miles Morales’ struggle to navigate the next steps in their personal lives while combating new threats, including a private militia led by Kraven the Hunter and the extraterrestrial Venom symbiote, which bonds itself to Parker and negatively influences him.
Other games on the shortlist included Alan Wake 2, Final Fantasy 16, Starfield, Lethal Company, Payday 3, Diablo IV, Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Resident Evil 4.
Spider-Man 2’s win was not met with universal approval in the comments section on Pubity’s Instagram feed, with many posters decrying that their favourite didn’t win – with a lot of love for Alan Wake 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3.
