I recommend: 2023 | This Year in Videogames

A huge thanks to Gigabyte Aorus for sponsoring the video. To learn more about their impressive range of PC hardware visit www.aorus.com/..., and to see how ‪@SimpleModz‬ built the Mini-ITX PC featured here, check out the build video on his channel: • STARFIELD INSPIRED GIG...
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Do I recommend 2023? Sure, but it's complicated...
#ThisWeekInVideogames #2023 #GOTY
The Day Before video: • The Day Before - A Sca...
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Here are the full specs for the Mini-ITX PC btw:
GIGABYTE RTX 4060 OC Low Profile graphics card
GIGABYTE B760I AORUS PRO motherboard
Intel Core i5 13400F processor
LZmod A24-V5 5L mini-ITX chassis
Thermalright AXP120-X67 WHITE low profile CPU cooler
32GB Crucial PRO DDR5 5600MHz memory
2 x 2TB Crucial T500 Pro PCie Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSDs
400W Fully Modular Flex power supply
Orange Pelican 1450 Case
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Video written by Ralph P, edited by Austin B and Stuart K
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If you want to check out the Friends Per Second Podcast, you can find all the links to it here:
linktr.ee/frie...
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Thanks for taking the time to watch the video. If you'd like to support the channel even more, the best way is through my Patreon: / skillupyt
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Grab 12% off any SteelSeries peripheral by using offer code SKILLUP at checkout: steelseries.pb...
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Edited by Austin @ausomehd
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Twitter: Sk... (@skillupyt)
Instagram: www.instagram....
Tiktok: / skillup
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[@SkillUp]

A huge thanks to Gigabyte Aorus for sponsoring the video. To learn more about their impressive range of PC hardware visit www.aorus.com/en-au, and to see how @SimpleModz built the Mini-ITX PC featured here, check out the build video on his channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXe1c6abebJ3oKcsi=7KO997qqRsHA7m7p

[@lukerotman9091]

Your videos have helped make 2023 a good year for me. Thanks for all your work making quality for us to enjoy! Super excited to see what next year brings

[@Iffy350]

If you think 2023 was good than 2024 is going to ‘blow your freaking mind.’

[@eigmatic8166]

Why didn't you talk about valhalla

[@iHaveTheDocuments]

Let's be clear, any PC builder will tell you, don't buy a 4060 or 4060ti. Value for money here is a joke. Don't just take my word for it. Aorus is a great brand tho, just buy their other products. It's what I use

[@ScotBurnapp-vj1jt]

Is there a direct link to buy the mini pc?

[@DurandalOfAegis]

As someone who was impacted by the layoffs, thank you for taking the time to bring some light to the public. For me 2023 was a weird one, I feel we experience too much of the same this year. I would have welcome one or two Death Stranding experiences where something feels fresh and ambitious outside of Zelda TOTK. Sequels, remakes, remastered and a few indie gems, to me the year was a bit of a let down probably because I have been playing these games since the 80s. Lets hope we see some real creativity in 2024. Happy new year to everyone here, I hope you all have a fantastical new year.

[@Leee275]

Something being well Refined matters a lot more than Reinventing an already existing thing.

[@TheMinidow]

The incredible difference in the peaks and dips this year has made the wildest rollercoaster ever.

[@thelonelyboner1]

Thank you Ralph, Austin, and Stu for all of the content you've released this year. It's been a pleasure watching you grow as creators and I can't wait to see how you grow in the future.

[@andrewwilson201]

I second this motion

[@escapefromtibet2530]

I thought Austin was the editor?

[@Jarfla]

Stu is the second editor

[@diamondheadify-v5i]

Is Ralph voicing the skill up videos or Austin?

[@thelonelyboner1]

@@Jarflathank you, I’ll update my comment

[@kasv4103]

yeah, yeah i love the lies of p, but i wanna hear about the lies of the completionist - no one deserves a digital OPEN HAND slap more.

[@wholesomegamer]

0:00 - Intro 3:08 - January 7:14 - February 11:43 - March 15:48 - April 19:28 - May 26:17 - June 30:09 - July 34:11 - August 37:50 - September 46:47 - October 51:32 - November 55:03 - December 1:00:10 - Outro Love you Ralph - long time viewer, but considering your average video length I would love to see chapters marked in your videos 😉 If anyone is looking for a builds & guides channel feel free to check out mine 😁

[@dyn9726]

Ikr, ive been telling this months ago. The only time that he put timestamp on his channel are his podcast 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@wholesomegamer]

@@dyn9726 I mean I have a channel on my own and if your income depends on it you may fear that video engagement goes down if people just jump from one chapter to another. So you will have to consider that as a factor, but I would always think that in the long run people appreciate the little extra convenience, especially if you are more into releasing longer videos.

[@dyn9726]

@@wholesomegamer that make sense, though i only watch his videos that really need unbiased video, i came to skillup, but for general review others that put timestamp i more keen to surf their channel

[@echinas0908]

He has stated before that he doesn't put chapters because of the loss of watch time

[@nikidelvalle]

​@@echinas0908 I think a channel raking in thousands of dollars a month on Patreon making the excuse of sacrificing the viewership experience for the sake of viewer engagement is a pretty scummy business strategy.

[@MetaRam]

"If he meant Starfield's central technology, Loading Screens" I had to pause the video for a good 5 minutes to laugh.

[@Boss_Fight_Index_muki]

CEO: 10 million dollar check developers: 2 weeks notice

[@paulszki]

@@BamOuttaDaBayouDPOY like 0.1 million is still $100.000. I mean, I guess in SOME cities in the U.S. by now that counts as "making ends meeet" but 8.3k per month still sounds like a lot of money in a lot of places.

[@makasete30]

I thought it was 20 million….

[@paulszki]

@@BamOuttaDaBayouDPOY honestly? there are a couple of reasons to "settle" for just x amount in your salary. $8.3k per month certainly isn't anywhere near filthy rich. Sure, ok. Now double that to $16,6k per month. Consider the expenses in your life and your own lifestyle. Would you say that $16,6k per month would eradicate any of your financial woes? It's still not filthy rich but you're certainly "untroubled" now, if you're not a gambling addict or decided that you NEED to live in a multi-million dollar villa. But now double that to $32k month (400.000 a year). You can now pay off your dream villa/apartment within a decade or two while maintaining a very comfortable lifestyle. I'd still consider this an acceptable level of wealth. But double that amount of money. 800k. Not enough, double it. 1.6 million. No. Double that. 3.2million. DOUBLE it. 6.4 million. NOPE TRIPPLE THAT. 20-ish million. Ah, FINALLY acceptable recompensation for whatever it is I'm doing. But they don't seem to be the type that cares to ask themselves: Why aren't my employees earning more? Why am I FIRING x% of my staff? Why are my games shit? Because you want a yacht? Like I'm sorry, but absolutely nobody in the world "needs" or even "deserves" more than $500k a year, including Jesus. It all needs to go to charity or the state for schools, education, free public transport, free internet (debatable), free healthcare and also to help other nations to get to your level -> less wars, less refugees, more cool places to be in the world instead of... ruins. Anything to lift up humanity. The world is already incredibly unfair for a majority of all people. There is so much unhappiness. In that way there really is no "ethical" way to earn 20 million a year. Let alone MORE. 20 million a year is NOTHING. It won't get you NEAR the forbes 100. Not a single one of these people has done ANYTHING to "deserve" a fraction of the wealths they own. They were simply lucky and/or ruthless.

[@Beldaross]

​@@BamOuttaDaBayouDPOY corporate capitalist bootlicker

[@Lean_Dad]

I showed this to my dog and he shit on the carpet.

[@MrmorpheuZ]

Ralph, you're a legend mate. Merry Christmas and happy new year. Thanks for all of the video game news this year ❤

[@LiraeNoir]

Using the Colleen Bellinger fiasco as a deserved punchline, but not a single line about Jirard and charity fraud? Come on...

[@ResandOuies]

On publisher learning that "LiVe SeRvIce" is a risky bet. It's basically MMOs after WoW all over again. They will learn, but dev time from greenlight to release being long and add in a couple of "but our idea is much better" means it will probably die down in a couple of years. Then we'll basically get none for a while, as the industry pivots to chase the next trend.

[@dandylionwine]

Don't think I've heard anyone bring up that comparison before now. Excellent point.

[@CasualKevTwitch]

Most hyped game in the past decade? You mean No Man Sky........ Also conveniently not mentioning your hubby TheCompletionist who has actually been scamming for more then a decade.

[@Shnagovic]

Skill Up, thank you for all the work you've put in through out this year and the years before! Honestly, your content always cheers me up and I am glad that quality content is still appreciated on KZbin. May 2024 be a prosperous year for you, games and developers. Also, a special thanks to Austin, for not only editing the vids but actually doing a great job at helping you with reviews. Thanks to both of you.

[@sublimesubaru2857]

I recommend SkillUp not just for the passionate, well thought out, edited, directed, and regular uploads! I appreciate your hard work and all my other favorite youtubers out there as well & I hope yall have a good new year!

[@ChrisLT]

So many great games that I'll still be catching up well into next year.

[@anasshahid224]

Me too!

[@DroneCorpse]

2 years even

[@Contractor48]

Only 5 great games. Cyberpunk, Zelda, Armored core, Remenant and Baldur's gate. And I am still playing Elden ring and destiny 2. Rest are good, average and bad.

[@ChrisLT]

@@Contractor48 Remnant*

[@rundown132]

2024 is looking like the year to catch up on

[@marcusclark1339]

Not the best year at all - half the games coming out unfinished - filled with ESG politics (sweet baby inc or blackrock or vanguard ESG companies) - more of them being Remakes (and thanks to the leak we now know why) - media hypocrisy - Sony basically bleeding money all throughout - Xbox buying and monopolizing more and more this year sucked lets be real

[@callsignjoker1]

Ben Starr is such a gem. Can't wait to see him in more stuff!

[@kirkshanghai]

Homie deserves the world. Such a nice dude and amazing VA

[@elidasilva5558]

He deserved to win Best Performance at the TGA

[@Warden_Saga]

He’s launching an actual play D&D channel called Natural Six with several other awesome people, including the dude who plays Geralt of Rivia in the Witcher games (if you wanna see more of him as a person, which you should).

[@callsignjoker1]

@brianreynolds9488 when is this? I could dig something like that.

[@Warden_Saga]

@@callsignjoker1 They have a kickstarter for a full launch, but the KZbin channel (Natural Six) is live now with some behind the scenes and a couple sessions.

[@ryanduarte8742]

I’ve enjoyed Ralph and his teams work since Laymen Gaming with his brother to SkillUp which has become my favorite gaming channel of all time as well as my go-to for anything gaming related. Thank you guys for all your hard work in providing such high quality content. It’s truly been a privilege to watch this channel grow. Look forward to 2024!

[@GeekdomCentral]

I’m still really bummed that Laymen has basically closed up shop. They were so much fun together

[@RandomShytStuff]

Thanks shillup - another year of quite literally my favorite passive media consumption. Unbelievable depth, fantastic writing, and pertinent and useful information - been killin’ it for years. Much love, and happy new years :)

[@zackeryparkerson]

It will never stop being infuriating to me that the creator of Sonic got busted for insider trading, but the members of the American Congress do it openly and it’s considered an open secret we all just ignore.

[@legatoredsummers]

ShillUp, thanks to your channel and a coworker, I'm playing Destiny 2 now. Idk if I should thank you or not, but I love your content.

[@juliodavila424]

Ha, I got into the original Destiny-after its panned initial release-thanks to Skill Up, and his letting us know that the game was actually good now. I also learned to appreciate Warframe, and gave it another go. Never figured out the whole mod system, tough. Even Shill Up's shilling hasn't been able to get me back into Destiny 2, though. Thanks for the hard work, and I'll see you next year.

[@theonemarlowe9117]

It seems you forgot to land your Jonathan Majors joke. Still, quite the recap. Thanks for all the hard work.

[@Mica-zg1sj]

Yeah great recap but I was waiting for the punchline on that one too, you can even see the story in an ad at 53:47

[@eldengarrett9153]

I thought he was using dramatic irony there. At the time of the movie, the abuse wasn't known about, I presume.

[@victorclaudio435]

Hoping to see more of Kang in the future... 😂 That aged like milk

[@MPRNPN]

Came here to post about this. The verdict is out and Majors has been cut from Disney MCU. He is such a phenomenal acting talent but he deserves what he gets. Maybe in an alternate universe we could have had Chadwick Boseman's Avengers leasing the fight against Jonathan Majors Kang.

[@AtomicPiggly]

The funny thing is this video is recent...Just posted. But somehow he still didn't know the news? Or did he decide to pre-record that part like forever ago? That would be pretty weird...It's all so fucking weird lmao. Not sure how he writes his scripts but with AI these days I could never imagine taking WEEKS/Months to write and record something. The AI will cover all the basics then you just tighten that up and add a few more things to it then just record. Done.

[@BornIn1142]

@@AtomicPiggly He was being ironic.

[@Underdrill]

​@@AtomicPiggly He was clearly being sarcastic in his tone. Most of us picked up on that easily, but I wouldn't expect much intelligence from someone trying to weasel in a fucking blantant AI ad in a comment that made zero mention of it. Stop trying to ruin the creativity of the human race with your dreadful AI bullshit.

[@jzilla1234]

He's knows, "Thats the joke"

[@Label07]

Phil told the truth about the console war for two reasons.. 1) it's true, they are in 3rd place 2) it looks damn good when that's true and a CEO says it when you want to acquire a HUGE company

[@SirEvilestDeath]

A little bit upsetting James McCaffrey was not mentioned after recently passing away after Alan Wake 2’s launch. He has been a major voice talent for Remedy Software. Max Payne/Alex Casey will never feel the same again. We miss him and many other hard working members of the video game industry that have helped us make the memories and fandoms we have experienced over the decades.

[@VampiricBard]

Oh that sucks. I didn't even know that. I agree that Max Payne won't be the same without him.

[@mickael486]

Or the mention of the video game franchise that Lance Reddick's likeness was literally in.

[@johnsmithson4479]

Why is that upsetting? They have way too much stuff to get through to mention everything

[@OrangeGenerator]

@@johnsmithson4479 A small mention wouldn't have taken that much. But yes it's not the end of the world.

[@gunnarschlichting9886]

Maybe he will bring it up more in his game of the year video? Since Alan Wake 2 is one of the ones on the list.

[@S2Pot_Gaming]

What a wild year of gaming; truly it hit records on both extremes of high and low. Great video recap; thanks for all the hard work you and your team put into this year.

[@EndrzGame]

Bravo to team Skill Up for bringing us a year of extensive news coverage, insight and laughs that you just can't get anywhere else!

[@Shayden52]

No mention at all of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora? I mean, it wasn't this year's critical darling by a long shot, but it was Ubisoft's biggest release of the year and won the best graphics of 2023 award from Digital Foundry.

[@spartan_a1176]

Yeahh it doesn't save it from being a mid teir game

[@higglyjuff]

I thought that was weird too. Mentioning Dead Island 2 and Minecraft Legends, but Frontiers of Pandora gets pushed to the side.

[@JarvisSensei]

Thank you for another awesome year of content team. Still the best channel on the platform. ❤

[@HappyLarry.]

"looking forward to seeing more of him in the future" talking about Jonathan Majors better be a real dry sarcastic joke

[@arllyfat_cat9678]

2023 was a weird year. As game enjoyers, we ate really well in both the amount of good and great titles and the entertainment value from the bad games as well. With my personal subjective Game of the Year being Final Fantasy XVI. But most certainly developer wise, 2023 is one of the worst years to have ever happened. Praying all those whom had lost their jobs get back on their feet, and I hope those at Insomniac recover personally from the hack and those employees stay safe. In short: 2023 - one helluva year.

[@Owen-ey2gh]

Final Fantasy XVI was also my personal game of the year! 2023 felt like it opened Pandora’s box. It’s simultaneously one of the best and worst years of gaming. We’ve had amazing games, horrible games, and cynical corporate practices. I’m terrified as much as I’m excited for the future of gaming

[@Azmodan514]

FFXVI as game of the year on a channel that completely blasted the game on its release? You have some balls/ovaries KEKW.

[@stinkobean]

God, is it wrong to hope he hired Sam for the weekly news show? I miss Layman Gaming so much. I don't know if that dynamic would actually work on this channel, given it was more memey/jokey, but I am allowed to dream, yeah?

[@alsage9992]

You completely skipped over hifi rush.

[@zedrake]

2:16 - This is me! I studied games design at university, did my masters in games dev and wanted to be a UIUX designer for games. This was around 2016-2018 and on top of that once I compared the salary ranges from Tech to Gaming it was embarrassing for the industry to say the least. Within a year just being a midweight product designer I was making more than most senior games roles. The industry seriously needs to start giving real salaries and stop selling "but games!" as a selling point. Can't buy a house or food with "but games!"

[@nadg866]

the joke is that those salaries are clown-tier and on top of that game devs have the shittiest working conditions in the tech field and risk to be fired even when the company does well. It's so sad knowing that behind your favourite game there is such frustration and unfairiness

[@zedrake]

@@nadg866 literally! When we had people come in to university and talk about different roles and experiences nearly all of them had since left the industry for something better

[@nadg866]

@@zedrake not hard to believe

[@tristanpalser7860]

Ralph your content is imo the finest gamimg content on KZbin. The consistency and quality of your content is unmatched and is a true inspiration. Keep it up!

[@TheIndulgers]

The game awards were a travesty and a disgrace to the industry. Seeing some of the most talented and dedicated people in gaming rushed off stage, and no mention of all the people let go this year - many of who contributed to the very games that won awards. Even worse, most awards weren’t even given in person. Just rambled off during an offshoot between commercials. Really disgusting.

[@kylelangford5643]

Thank you for the year of reviews, Ralph. You’re a top notch journalist and kept me interested in games I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. Wishing you all the best for 2024

[@boylibrary3533]

Phil’s comments on losing the console generation and all that is what made me decide to buy a new Xbox, I had been flirting with the idea of getting PS5 but after that I realized having a CEO that doesn’t give you corpo speech options means we’re likely to see Xbox have a great generation this time around

[@BIGNOIDS]

Lol

[@twitsik8966]

over 62k layoff in gaming and gaming adjacent industries, 2023 was a great year for gaming but a horrible on for game makers!

[@syatek]

6.2k* big difference there

[@ArariaKAgelessTraveller]

they mostly work for Giant companies so screw them anyway

[@MoreImbaThanYou]

History being kind to FFxV? Isn`t it universally accepted that FFXV is an unfinished mess?

[@commanderkitsune8524]

A very good roundup of the year. Very much enjoyed the show. Looking forward to your Games of the Year vid. Also think you should do a Hottest Trash of the Year to give us joy on some of the crap of the year, cause we never get tired of Gollum being crapped on XD

[@shinkush]

FF16 should not have a label of RPG game, is an action game, also they dont just changed the style, the game dont have most of what final fantasy games have, secrets, the open world to explore (yeah i know have some that dont have open world but are minority), secret bosses, elemental afinity, party system, a RPG system, side quests that adds to the game...so many things, also the story was so shallow for me. Eikon fights amazing tho Armored Core 6 still the best game of this year for me Aside with Allan Wake 2

[@mroutcast8515]

Layoffs were across all industries globally - absolutely no economical reason why it would omit gaming industry. I work with databases for logistics company. 20% were fired this year (so 80 people just in my division, probably 10x that across all divisions in my country). I hate the act as if it was only gaming industry affected by this.

[@shinkicker404]

Cracks me up how desperate you are to avoid mentioning Hogwarts. Anyway good round up otherwise. The layoffs this year were truly disgusting, especially with how those vastly overpaid CEOs are still there, something really needs to be done about that.

[@zachdavis8488]

This channel has been and continues to be my number 1 watch every year. Absolutely awesome to see all the development and new routines you’ve put together this year. Ralph, Stu, and Austin, can’t wait to see what next year holds for you. See you then!

[@DenethorDurrandir]

This video was quite heavy on sarcasm, as a sarcasm enjoyer, I approve. Tho I'm not sure about the Diablo IV appearing in "game of the year video", I hope it was sarcasm, it's too early for shillup to lose his marbles.

[@maxloera052]

I wasn´t even aware of the Snoop Dogg story but man, Shillup's tone made it even funnier. I've been here since the good ol Laymen days (still sad) and never regretting to be a huge fan of This Week in Videogames, congrats on being one of the best videogame Yotubers out there. Looking forward to see all your reviews and videos for 2024. Sending the best wishes from Mexico Ralph, Austin and Stu

[@icebough4191]

Here’s a hot take Many of the devs losing their jobs were from AAA studios who have put out mediocre release after mediocre release. Some of these people are the very ones who were decrying g baldurs gate 3 and not wanting to be held to this new standard. I’m not saying all of the devs deserved to be sacked, but there is rot in the industry and it isn’t restricted to C suite execs

[@alesdrobek2512]

The layoffs must be terrible for the affected but maybe the industry just needed to shed some fat accumulated in the lucrative covid years. I doubt most publishers and developers have let go their best talent with irreplaceable knowledge, as SkillUp said.

[@JamesSmith-hz5os]

Thabk you for a year of charity scandals, platforming theives, and horrible Final Fantasy takes! All hail shill up!

[@Paladinbaroque]

Thanks to you, Stew and Austin for all your efforts over the year and all the content. Hope all of you are enjoying the holidays Much love, stay safe and take care folks x

[@ADUSN]

Imagine still pre-ordering. Imagine STILL buying Bethesda games

[@stevenjackson9028]

This Skillup guy makes some okay videos, Austin should let him make more videos for the channel.

[@vVex_]

where's my goddamn GOTY list, Ralph?

[@Keinish79]

If in ten years I happen to have to write something about a videogame released in 2023, I will come back to this video to remember what the hell was going on at the time.

[@phoenyck]

"Best of luck with the sentencing, my dude." is one of the greatest lines I've heard

[@Labib-dw1lk]

Jonathan’s kang performance was incredible. ..Hope he doesn’t commit heinous crimes anytime soon!

[@nflhalowarrior]

That was the joke..

[@Labib-dw1lk]

@@nflhalowarrior that was the joke Backatcha buddy

[@TheFallingFlamingo]

Usually when someone makes an obviously questionable statement with a change to a mocking tone, it means they are being sarcastic.

[@zenlis1291]

we should all agree, AAA games have generally been getting worse with each MONTH. imagine how bad it'll be next YEAR. BUT, indie games are doing fine this year and are getting more recognition as "Games That Try" when compared to AAA's "Games That Steal Your Wallet And Beat The Everliving Hell Out Of You While Giving You A Single Penny In Return."

[@timaltstadt824]

If Baldurs Gate 3 hopefully sets the standard for RPGs in their sense of storytelling, then the new BioWare games have a hell of a bar to jump

[@connorross123]

Imma level with you.... future Bioware games have a zero percent chance of being good

[@Sunmonks]

It’s December 2024 and I have already forgotten that Starfield exists. I loved previous titles from Bethesda, but “games” that force us to navigate menus instead of playing or adventuring is just…depressing.

[@VioletElite4]

Going through this video keeps reminding me of how much of a doozy we've had with gaming this year, the good and the bad. You're a beast for covering all of it

[@emulation2369]

Ralph, please keep it straight about layoffs.. During pаndеmic gaming industry almost doubled in size (most of the companies hired everyone like madmans ) they hired so much, that the layoffs will continue in the next 2 years!

[@itisWhatitis12345]

Starfield was my GOTY easy

[@marcuskane1040]

Lowest-rated BGS game on Steam lil bro Cope and seethe LMAO

[@JoeDouglas]

You know what the worst thing about 2023 was? People saying "L" and "W." Seriously, how hard is it to say the whole word?

[@AlexMakesGames80]

As someone hoping to enter the games industry in 2024 I am indescribably grateful you cover the state of our industry and the people who make the games we love

[@inorite4553]

Run dude! Run for your life!!!!

[@RasenRendanX]

My only critique about this video was the no spoiler warning on the insomnic leak. I'm still trying to avoid hearing about it.

[@belsamethtaken4107]

Thanks for an excelent year to both Austin and his helpers. I'm also very glad that you haven't let all the good games overshadow the fact that a *lot* of people got shafted by the industry. Keep it up!

[@MrVad3r]

can you stop calling cyberpunk an rpg lmao. its a great action adventure game with illusion of rpg. witcher 3... now that is an rpg. maybe cpdr can replay their own game and figure how to make a proper rpg for their next game.

[@enragedwindows1331]

I picked a hell of a year to start watching this channel, it's been a fantastic ride so far.

[@R.L._Stine_88]

Star Fields Luke-warm reaction that Microsoft decided to delay the title considerably.... Uhhh Ralphie must be talking about the extremely short trailer from the E3/Summer Games Fest, that was just a shot of a ship landing on a planet. No... No there was not a Luke-warm reaction to that trailer. It gave us the release date (at the time) of 11.11.22. And I heard nothing but hype for it at the time. So what the hell is Ralphie talking about?? Does he really mean... In house Xbox did not want Star Field to release in a state that would make Bethesda's coined nickname "Bugthesda", any more legitimacy. So they decided to give Bethesda another full year of funding and support (apparently using all of Xbox testers). Paying all of the staff it takes to create Star Field for another full year had to be a proper investment by Xbox. I know personally this was by far the least buggy game I have played from Bethesda, specially at launch, so I much appreciated it. Ralph trying to say that there was a poor public reaction to Star Field and that caused the delay of the game is simply a lie. LoL I am not trying to propose ANY kind of TAX here haha. Just stating a more factual opinion (opinion being the key word).

[@jpbaiano1]

It will be a year to remember! Thanks for all the hard work, Shillup!

[@Djaermi]

You said that Cyberpunk 2077 got a lot of new players after Edgerunners came out but it was "unfinished" and then you showed a t-pose glitch. I can't confirm when that footage was captured, but in my experience Cyberpunk was already an outstanding game following patch 1.6. You're right that they hadn't added a ton of new content by that time, but the game was polished, complete, and offered a very satisfying range of playstyles. I've avoided the 2.0 update in order to complete my current playthrough, and it is in my top 3 best games of all time. While the narrative doesn't have the level of complexity that The Witcher 3 did, the graphics, world-building, and overall quality of writing have been elite for a while now. I'm glad that Phantom Liberty and update 2.0 brought a lot of holdouts back, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they have done to the old place, but the state of the game after patch 1.6 was absolutely not bad, broken, or incomplete.

[@onlyenkei]

There are few things as deeply satisfying as coming back to work for the new year to see a big fat hour-long episode of SkillUp waiting for you. Thank you Ralph, Austin and Stu. Love you lads longtime. ❤

[@Jabbadoor2]

Whatever KZbin is doing with their Adblock-block... If this is what they intent, I'm going to find another source for my "gaming content". Please, @SkillUp let me know if there's a less ad intrucive way to watch your content. (I've no issue with your invideo ads... I just got an issue with google breaking the flow of your content at several random points during my viewing of your content... I'm not sure, but it seems like there are some sort of timered ad, which play a certain intervales... so if you watch 5 minutes, pause, and return later, you get another forced ad... and if you pause after that and return later, you get forced yet another one.) I know you don't run youtube, and I'm not blaming you... Just letting you know, that if this is the platforms standard, I'm going to find content elsewhere... And if I can't find it elsewhere, I'm just going to do something else with my time. (Just the feedback from a random viewer on the internet)

[@atari947]

Jeez Tood seems alot more invested in his games than most exects. Looks genuinely defeated.

[@chaserseven2886]

who wouldn't i'd be salty as all hell

[@daizenmarcurio]

I saw that there were people who watched the game awards just to see starfield lose lmao.

[@chriswihulu]

​@@daizenmarcurio sounds like they missed the concept of a game award show, not that the Game Awards themselves have shown it understands it any better 😂

[@selectionn]

he started at bethesda as a grunt actually making the game, so yeah he cares more about his game being good. sure the game made a bunch of money so he should be happy, but money =/= happy when its something you made

[@azmodanpc]

Could make better games or gtfo. Starfield is a buggy shallow mess they learned nothing from Fallout 76.

[@Repenter0]

Nice video but between this and The Finals video both of which covered shooters/the recent history. Why no mention at all of BattleBit? It was a small indie game (like literal 3 man studio thing) that made a battlefield game, better than Dice has made in ages, but in blocky/minecraft/roblox style art. It had great level destruction, good enough balance, nice class design... It was basically just a few dudes working together to show what Battlefield games can and should be. It took steam by storm for a month or two around June this year, though its fallen off in player counts since then. Most big name FPS players were streaming it, making videos on it, etc. Is there are a BattleBit embargo in AUS, or is it just something you/your dudes never got around too for whatever reason? When I was watching The Finals video I thought "damn hes mentioning stuff about great destruction and current shooters, but nothing about BattleBit.. thats odd". Then here again in this year in review no mention of BattleBit when I felt like for me atleast June was dominated by BattleBit.

[@PXAbstraction]

If there's one thing I've taken from 2023, it's how more and more critics are becoming out of touch with audiences. The reviews of several major releases both in games and movies where critics just don't plain represent what the actual customers think has been quite interesting.

[@TheRogueWolf]

Critics look for things that push the envelope, improve the medium. The audience just wants critics to tell them how smart they are for liking what they like.

[@socratese5]

⁠​⁠@@TheRogueWolfis that why Starfield got all those 9s and 10s in the beginning because it pushed the envelope and improved the medium?

[@slyseal2091]

@@TheRogueWolf You had to wait less than 72 hours for the year to end and your opinion to not be afflicted by being posted in the same year as Starfield, Diablo 4 and the two AAA remakes

[@Brokenlance]

@@socratese5it got those scores because it’s a good sandbox. Let me guess, you think the game is empty, outdated and boring? You had better apply that same logic to every other sandbox in existence or your opinion is worthless.

[@selectionn]

@@Brokenlance you are trolling, you gotta work on your baiting skills, this one is too obvious. If you want to troll about starfield properly, and make people argue with you and take the bait, you have to talk about how the modders will make it better and bethesda worked as hard as they could through covid, working remotely, and having to make a massive game world where you can explore and do anything you want, while no other AAA developer dare to make a similar game, because bethesda is the king.

[@Jabbadoor2]

@SkillUp I'm only 2 minutes in... And I only mention this to point out, that my comment got nothing to do with other points you might make over the next hour... EDIT: This is way more complex than this, but still alot more nuanced than whatg most critics, including you, makes it out to be. And honestly, the only one risking "driving away those considerating" are people who blow this issue out off proportions! Heck, not to mention how it makes those companies who actually got an issue, able to hide amongst all those who doesn't... just because this has to be a "controversy". While I always, or mostly always, find the news of people losing their jobs, saddening, I also know that just because people are losing their jobs, it's not nessarily the end of the world. Although, it shouldn't be outright dismissed, because it's also plausible that it is a "death throes"... But this is not one of those cases in my opinion. It is sad to watch talent lose their jobs, especially when they got a track record of "quality"... But there are situations where layoff of such are completly normal, and in fact more of a sign of "health" rather than one of "decay". All tech buisnesses have become bloated and had to lay of people for several reasons... same goes for most entertainment buisnesses... both areas that will impact gamedevs, and when happening at the same time, it's not unreasonable to assume the sector to get hit harder. Also, when large games gets close to release, it is not just "normal" but assumed and expected, that large projects layoff a large portion of their "drones", (or "non-talent-general-workers" if you will). So when several major projects releases in the same year, they will obviously also have to lay off lots of people... but what is so sorely missing in this debate, is the fact that all of these companies, who had a huge success release, are all going to be hiring at the same time as all the layoff happens. It is far from uncommen that following a games release, a lose group of the workforce is let off, however, large parts of that workforce are free (and more often than not, encouraged) to apply for the new possitions. If they did even "dencently" previously, they are more than likely to get rehired! And if they are unlycky, there will be lots of other studioes ready to hire them! Game dev is not a "stready lifelong job" unless you are one of those few iconic people... For the waste majority of developers their work is most similar to a "gig economy". And no "games industry commentor" bother to point this out, and honestly, I'm getting the felling that none of them even understand this aspect of a workforce, because they themselve are stuck in a completely different workenviroment, in which getting fired means they moste likely sucked at their job... Or their buisness failed... That's not how games development works! Layoffs are natural! All layoffs has to be seen in the light of the current market situation! For anyone who manage to read all this; Yes, I know it's very unlikely that SkillUp is going to read this... But I just feel like I need to keep calling this out, when I hear it from people who seem to have integrity, which is why I even bothered to write this here... Because I hope he might fall over this, and add this point of view to all the others he gets, and maybe see, that he is missing something that's not super obviouse to most people.

[@rishabhmalhotra7017]

From what I have read regarding the layoffs this year, it seems like companies were too slow to realize that the entertainment boom that happened during covid (where the demand for new shows, games etc was skyrocketing) was going to be shortlived. And hence, quite a lot of companies overinvested in new roles. Now that the growth curve has slowed down and 'normalized' a bit, it is becoming unsustainable to retain all those employees, especially when you pair it with the fact that video game development is getting costlier nowadays (for example, Spiderman 2 production cost around 300 million dollars). In such a scenario, I do understand how job security can get affected. However, I also realize that there might have been a lot more factors for these layoffs, and I would love to know more about why this happened. It would have been heartbreaking to be a part of a development team and making a particular game for years, only to be laid off while that game might be getting praises and awards. Man, I really hope this thing gets better. One thing I often think about is that if AAA game development is getting too big and too costly for its own good. Look at those Square Enix news where we often hear how they announce their titles as 'commercial disappointments' even when they sold millions. Perhaps AA games and overall smaller budget is going to be more sustainable in future? 1) Smaller costs mean devs dont have to be scared of taking risks, 2) A game can recuperate its costs and 'break even' faster leading to more profits and 3) Even if a game flops commercially, it wont create a disaster where the company goes under (we have seen this too many times this year, Forpspoken, Immortals of Aveum, etc). But well, I guess its easier said than done. And still, I am glad that the creative output this year WAS THROUGH THE ROOF!! LET THEM MAKE LONGER SPEECHES NEXT YEAR GEOFF KEIGHLEY :)

[@socratese5]

Maybe it’s time to develop smaller games with less costs like you said, in another realm of entertainment, movies for example often cost hundreds of millions of dollars while Godzilla minus one cost 15 million to make. There must be a way for games to do something similar eg streamlined smaller scope and lower costs

[@mattb6646]

There were financial factors as well, way lower interest rates for companies to easily borrow cash, and that's been changing the past 2 years.

[@makasete30]

The thing is that this may be the case overall, but then we have Microsoft, Sony and EA making huge profits this year. Sony raising prices as the ps5 continues to sell well, as well as their game franchises and yet they lay off employees. Microsoft’s gobbling up game developers with astronomical prices, still making huge profits and then laying off employees including those at the companies they just bought. EA making huge profits, and their CEO receiving a ridiculous salary and yet he doesn’t at least take a pay drop to save some of those employees. Embracer group purchasing lots of companies than having to close them and lay off over 900 due to huge debts. On the other hand in Japan, we have Nintendo, Sega (apart from the the case noted in the video)and Capcom actually increasing salaries, and going on a hiring spree. They also went through COVID but are not downsizing. Square Enix is the exception and they at least have a good reason with the poor performance of some of their big games that have continued from last year. Notice that they still found jobs for most of those from Luminous and merged the company. In a year of huge profits some of these layoffs are indeed due to downsizing after COVID, but notable ones look like poor management mixed with greed that could have been avoided or look unnecessary. I feel the danger of blaming COVID is it lets all the companies off the hook and they can deflect the blame where they clearly deserve the criticism from Ralf and others.

[@socratese5]

@@makasete30 looks like the big companies are Deep sea trawling and just leaving barren landscapes in their wake They don’t care

[@boopsnoot3142]

The truth is that Immortals of Aveum is the game everyone thinks Forspoken is.

[@wenskley]

I always love these videos! I can’t imagine how much work it takes to pull all this together.

[@Malisman77]

Video game industry needed some cleansing. There are too many people that think they have talent, but they just don't they just have passion. And with only passion for video gaming, and no skill or talent, you can't produce anything good. So yeah, let those people work someplace else. The skilled will either remain, or if they leave one studio, they will be snatched by another, or better yet, they will start their own game projects, and their talent and dedication will remain in industry! Do you want to see stuff like Gollum? Like Starfield? Like "The day before"? These lame (and sometime even scamy) games are product of too many lame developers and studios wanting to get piece of very lucrative pie that is the gaming industry. Don't mourn the lame, sometimes people need some brutal push to really challenge themselves to learn, improve and be good.

[@IndianTelephone]

Thank you Ralph, for another incredible year of reporting, inspiring and recognizing talent, and best of all, making entertaining content while maintaining authenticity and ethics!. A very happy new year to you, Austin and new member Stu! See you next year!

[@jessicabiel7772]

A very interresting year for video games for sure (best idk...). Sadly, the the completionist charity money "controversy" was also part of 2023...

[@lukemoonwalker8444]

The Alan Wake 2 title reveal on October hit really hard, good job at who decided to do that.

[@kennypowers1945]

It was a whack year for games in my opinion, only games I really liked was lies of p, hi fi rush, re 4 remake and dead space remake. Don’t have or care about Nintendo stuff since they have no achievements, don’t care about Sony games since they aren’t anything I wanna play and starfield was a big disappointment. Hopefully 2024 has some decent stuff

[@aryalshoots]

i'm honestly so glad i found out about Skill Up this year.

[@Yu7Zi]

Been one of my favourite content creators on the platform for years. Perfect mix of professional reviews and game content whilst still giving a personal and realistic perspective.

[@Hecarim420]

For long time I thought skill-up has similar voice to one of brothers from laymen-gaming but it was long time ago.

[@Bannschwert]

Thanks for the video. I'd really like to see a more serious video about the tactics of letting go employees, canceling games, shutting down studios etc from someone (or multiple someones) with knowledge of the video game industry as well as modern economics. I think this is something gamers might be interesting in as well as people concerned about modern capitalism. Because the fate of so many people, some we know quite well, is not random. This is how modern capitalism works, how it destroys art and kills innovation. This should concern everyone who is not a CEO or billionare themselves.

[@Klaatew]

We can talk about how 2023 was fantastic for games, and that’s so true. But it’s been an even more fantastic year for this channel. This year Ralph put in so much work and it shows, and we even got Austin’s debut as a very serious and integral part of this channel. Ralph will always be SkillUp, but SkillUp will now always be Ralph and Austin. Stu, I don’t know much about you - but thank you for your work too. This channel is most definitely a group effort and it’s so nice to see the fruits of that labor.

[@NitriumOxide]

I remember the crazy attempted boycott of Hogwart's Legacy (one of the most under-rated games of 2023 BTW). Happy to see that utterly fail. The game was great and a must for any Potter fan.

[@billwibbly1492]

Seeing an hour-long Skillup video releases incredible chemicals into my brain

[@easycake3251]

Gotta feel bad for Microsoft. Buying Failthesda at any price is asking too much. That company has been a walking corpse for years. They are just too big to drop fast. But just look at the last 2 games they released ? Yikes.

[@JakeGottfriedStudios]

I remember him saying 2017 was not a good year for gaming and I was confused since sure some infamous titles came out but I wouldn't argue it was a "step-back". In 2023 I would say it is understandable since so many phenomenal games came out but so many studios have suffered this year and many infamous titles also came out. It's possibly been both the best and worse year in gaming at the same time.

[@raresmacovei8382]

2017 was brilliant also. Alongside 2015. And 2016.

[@RobVespa]

Infamous?

[@fulcrum6760]

@@raresmacovei8382You kidding? We had the Battlefront 2 loot box controversy.

[@tetchedskate3366]

The first 50-80 hours of Diablo 4 is great. It’s the end game that’s the big problem, since you haven’t really made it to that point I’m not surprised you enjoyed your time with it

[@inquisitorichijou883]

Another year of SkillUp. Big thanks to everyone involved in the channel. And to the crew of Friends Per Second.

[@emulation2369]

spider man 2 was buggy and full of woke agenda (but not in middle east version, lol)

[@KahranRamsus]

Thanks SkillUp team for the year of keeping us up to date with gaming news. You went too easy on FF16 though. 😂

[@carbonfibercarpet4655]

Will there be a GOTY video?

[@Cozycoze40]

I’ve been with this channel since you reviewed Neir. You’ve always put out great content and that’s why I continue to watch even when my gaming is only on the phone these days. Thank you for the hard work and efforts. Looking forward to next year