2023 is coming to a close, and it has been an intriguing one for video games. As far as releases go, it’s hard to remember a year as jam-packed with diverse and high-quality games as this one. Nowhere is that more noticeable than in the multiplayer space, where games from several different genres have proven to be a great way to spend time with friends and strangers online and in person, and 2023 has plenty for you to play.
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Street Fighter 6 and Mortal Kombat 1 captivated fans with their brand of high-impact fisticuffs; Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo 4 featured open-world multiplayer, allowing you to group up with players with ease to take on gigantic monsters around the world of Sanctuary; meanwhile, physics-based brawler Party Animals lets you become various cute animals and is fun for non-gamers alike; finally, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre adapts the popular horror film into an asynchronous multiplayer game where one group plays the Slaughter family and the other are survivors trying to escape the villains. But in the end, like each of these games, there can be only one winner.
And the winner for the 2023 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Multiplayer Game is…
Street Fighter 6!
Since releasing Monster Hunter World in 2018, Capcom has been on a development tear, consistently releasing best-in-class games across a wide range of genres. One of the biggest reasons behind this resurgence is the work the developer has put into the RE Engine. While MH: World didn’t use that, almost everything released since then has put the versatile tool to work. After players disappointed with Street Fighter 5 in 2016, fans were hopeful that the switch to the RE Engine would give Street Fighter 6 the turnaround the franchise sorely needed.
Fortunately, those hopes were realized, as SF6 was a hit both critically and commercially. Fans loved touches like the character creator and the World Tour storytelling mode, but the star of the show is the multiplayer fights. Not only does Street Fighter 6 support cross-platform play out of the gate, but it also has rollback netcode, a feature that’s been a major selling point for modern fighting games.
Those two features make it incredibly easy to play with your friends no matter where they are and mean that when you hop into a match against randoms, you know you’ll get a competitive fight regardless of your connection. Street Fighter 6 also launched with a meaty roster of 18 World Warriors, including six brand-new fighters for the series. Capcom has followed that up with four new character launches during the game’s first year on store shelves, consistently giving players even more things to do.
The nominees for Best Multiplayer Game are:
Diablo 4
Mortal Kombat 1
Party Animals
Street Fighter 6 — WINNER
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
