The Best & Worst Sports Games of 2023

As the year finally comes to a close, it's been an exciting one for sports games. All of the usual juggernauts hit hard in 2023, but not all of them stuck the landing. From the arrivals of MLB The Show 23 and WWE 2K23 in March to the more recently released NHL 24.

Newcomer AEW Fight Forever made a splash in the middle of the year, but was it enough to earn them a best sports game of the year nod? Even the most disappointing releases of 2023 have high points, but there are some clear leaders in sports gaming after this year.

Best Sports Game of 2023: MLB The Show 23

Hands down the best sports game of the year is MLB The Show 23. While we aren't officially ranking all the entries on this list, one does deserve the undeniable nod as this year's top release. MLB The Show 23 continued to present some of the best quality gameplay, presentation, and graphics across the genre, but that wasn't what made this year so special.

MLB The Show 23 introduced a new Storylines mode diving into the history of the Negro Leagues in partnership with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. While simultaneously being the best crafted and most enjoyable sports game of the year with the best custom team options, the Storylines mode could be an award-winning documentary all by itself.

Worst: Madden 24

Despite some small steps forward over the last few years, Madden 24 is still easily the worst major sports release of 2023. They've added a handful of features and improved core gameplay, but the slow menus and abysmal interface were more frustrating than ever this year.

As we broke down in our Madden 24 review, the title's UI just takes far too long to navigate anywhere and glitches out far too often. They did make minor improvements post-launch in some of the various Madden 24 updates, but this entire franchise needs a fresh coat of paint if this game is going to become anything other than an Ultimate Team microtransaction machine.

Best: NHL 24

One of the biggest struggles of most annual sports game franchises is the annual release cycle leading to games that feel like a copy and paste replica of the previous year. Fortunately, as we broke down in our NHL 24 review, this release has revitalized core gameplay in the best ways with the new Total Control scheme and a revolutionary Sustained Pressure system.

On top of already having fantastic presentation and a great franchise mode with very solid customization options, the game is just far more fun to play this year than it has been in quite some time. If you've been waiting a few years to dive back in, do yourself a favor and at least play the NHL 24 trial with Xbox Game Pass or EA Play.

Worst: NBA 2K24

The really sad thing is that NBA 2K24 core gameplay is fantastic, visuals are top notch, and it might still have the best franchise mode in all of sports gaming. MyNBA Eras, introduced with the previous game and upgraded with an additional era this year, is just such a gem in how players can be transported back to the past and play with the rosters, draft classes, and rules of the 1980s or 1990s.

Unfortunately, it's the abysmal MyCAREER and obsession with microtransactions that completely demolishes all of NBA 2K24's good will. Buying this game will never be enough for 2K, they want you spending $60+ per month on additional microtransactions and have built MyTEAM and MyCAREER specifically to pressure you into doing that.

Best: WWE 2K23

One can only hope that 2K's obsession with microtransactions doesn't seize control of this franchise as well, because as of now WWE 2K23 is still one of this year's top sports games. After the disaster that was WWE 2K20, taking a year and change off to right the ship and shifting their release window have led to nothing but success.

WWE 2K23 is truly the best the game has been in years on every single level, especially with the upgrades to MyGM and revamped MyRISE career mode. Perhaps most importantly, WWE 2K23 has the most extensive community creations platform of all sports games. If you can think of any big pop culture figure, there's a 99% chance someone else already made them available for you to download via community creations.

Best & Worst: AEW Fight Forever

Our last choice is a mixed bag in the form of newcomer AEW Fight Forever. Due to the nature of exclusive sports gaming contracts between leagues and developers, most sports really only have one mainstream option. Thanks to upstart company All Elite Wrestling growing in recent years, they were able to develop and launch AEW Fight Forever alongside top names in the history of wrestling game development.

They got the foundation right, as the gameplay can be plenty of fun and career mode offers replayability and the option to use existing wrestlers on the roster instead of a custom wrestler. Sadly, the game loses its luster fairly quickly, the creation suite is minimal at best, and few of the DLC additions have felt worth the cost or been enough to bring this one back to life. AEW Fight Forever has the potential to become one of the best sports games in the genre, but it's just not there yet.