Hogwarts Legacy or Starfield? The most anticipated games of 2023, ranked

As the year now draws to a close, fans are eagerly anticipating 2023’s new video game releases. From classic reboots such as the Resident Evil 4 remake to upcoming new Adventure RPGs such as Hogwarts Legacy – avid gamers will not be disappointed with what 2023 has to offer.

Over 100 new games have been announced for release next year, and experts at Top10Casinos have analysed worldwide Google search trend data in order to see which of these releases gamers are most excited about. 

The Top 10 Most Anticipated Games of 2023 

For the full, comprehensive dataset, please see here. 

In first place is Hogwarts Legacy. The game that every Harry Potter fan dreamed about growing up has finally come to life. Due to be released in February 2023, it is clear that people are ready to shape their own Harry Potter fantasy with the game reaching nearly an estimated 1.23 million monthly average searches worldwide. A brand new Adventure RPG based on the franchise, the game has seen multiple delays, but fans are still eagerly awaiting its release as its Gameplay Showcase has garnered over 4.5 million views in just one month. 

The second most anticipated game is Starfield, with almost 540 thousand monthly average searches. Coming from the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4, this action RPG will be launched exclusively on Xbox Series X/S, but fortunately for PC gamers it will also launch later on in the year for PC. The game was announced in 2018 and will be Bethesda Studios’ first original game universe in 25 years, allowing users to enter a world of science fiction set in 2330. 

In third place is Diablo IV, available on all Xbox and PlayStation platforms and on PC from next year. The fourth installment of the best-selling Diablo series racks up more than 300,000 global monthly average searches, and this dark fantasy action RPG has fans eagerly awaiting its delayed Summer 2023 release. The game was announced in 2019 at Blizzcon, and its trailer has been viewed 11 million times since then.

With PC gaming being one of the most accessible platforms, it is no surprise that in fourth and fifth place are PC exclusives Sons of the Forest (224,000) and Baldur’s Gate 3 (206,000). The upcoming survival game, Sons of the Forest, allows users to immerse themselves in a terrifying first-person horror simulator. Baldur’s Gate 3 is the highly anticipated sequel to the series, which is based on Dungeons and Dragons, taking place in the current era of the Forgotten Realms.

In seventh place is zombie survival MMO The Day Before with 187,000 monthly searches. Launching in March 2023, fans just have a few more months to wait to enter a reality set in a post-pandemic America overrun by zombies. 

In joint tenth place is the long-awaited sequel to 2017’s Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and multiplayer survival Ark 2 with 154,000 monthly searches. Studio Wildcard’s sequel to Ark is set to be one of the key releases in 2023, and joins Sons of the Forest and The Day Before as the third survival game in our Top 10. The recently announced official title ‘Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’ is a Nintendo Switch Exclusive and immerses fans in the familiar setting of the Kingdom of Hyrule. Nintendo are so far doing a good job of keeping the details under wraps, so fans will just have to wait until its release in May 2023! 

Dan Dubey, a spokesperson for Top10Casinos.com commented on the research: “2023 will be a feature-packed year for the video game industry and it’s no surprise that titles like the Breath of the Wild sequel, Diablo IV and Starfield are dominating headlines. As video games become more sophisticated, gaming continues to be one of the most popular hobbies for people around the world.” 

Credit Top10Casinos.com who commissioned the data.