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First- and third-person shooters have often been the biggest–and most bankable–genre in gaming for years now. But in 2023? They’ve taken a backseat to several essential games from other genres that debuted this year. That’s not to say that shooters are declining, as there were many games this year where the emphasis was on filling your hand with iron and slinging some lead at any enemies on the screen.
According to GameSpot’s sister site, Metacritic, 2023 saw explosive spellcasting, remasters of classic FPS games, and intense virtual reality experiences rise to the top, all bringing with them a unique sense of action and style. We’ve crunched the numbers for the best shooters of 2023 according to various outlets on Metacritic, and you can read below to see which games in that action-packed genre made the cut this year.
For a closer look at other highlights of 2023, you can check out GameSpot’s roundups of the 10 best games of 2023 and the best PC games of the year.