Hogwarts Legacy was shut out of The Game Awards 2023, missing even the fan-driven Players' Voice shortlist despite huge sales.


It was one of those "wait, what?" moments in gaming award season. Hogwarts Legacy launched in early 2023 to enormous sales and largely positive reviews, becoming one of the year's biggest new releases. Yet when The Game Awards 2023 nominations were announced, the open-world Harry Potter title didn't land a single nomination in any jury-voted category. The only remaining hope for recognition was the Players' Voice award, a fan-driven competition where the community, not a panel, picks the winner. Spoiler alert: that hope evaporated too.

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A Last Chance That Didn't Pan Out

Unlike the other awards at The Game Awards, Players' Voice is decided entirely by fan votes. That format should have been a golden opportunity for a game with a massive player base like Hogwarts Legacy. But when the final shortlist was confirmed, the game was missing. The five finalists were:

  • Baldur's Gate 3

  • Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

  • Genshin Impact

  • Marvel's Spider-Man 2

  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Plenty of folks raised their eyebrows at a couple of those names. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is an expansion rather than a full standalone release, and Genshin Impact originally launched back in 2020, three years before the 2023 show. But in a pure popularity contest, those quirks don't matter. Fans get the final say, and the final say left Hogwarts Legacy out in the cold.

Why the Snub Stung

Missing the Players' Voice shortlist was a gut punch because it meant Hogwarts Legacy would end The Game Awards 2023 with zero chance of taking home any hardware. The game's divisive reputation in some circles always made its awards-season path a bit shaky, but the Players' Voice vote looked like a legit opportunity to win based purely on player enthusiasm. In the end, the fan push simply didn't have enough fuel to carry it into the final round—a tough break for supporters who felt the game deserved at least one moment in the spotlight.

What made the situation even stranger for many observers was the absence of nominations in categories that seemed custom-built for Hogwarts Legacy. It wasn't recognized for Best Art Direction, Best Score & Music, Best Audio Design, or Best Role Playing Game. That left more than a few fans scratching their heads. After all, the game's detailed recreation of Hogwarts Castle, its atmospheric score, and its polished audio work earned plenty of praise. But awards season is a different animal—critical juries and sales numbers rarely march to the same beat.

The Players' Voice Battle

The Players' Voice race itself became a fascinating showdown. Baldur's Gate 3 was the heavy favorite in many corners of the internet after its landmark 2023 launch, and it seemed poised to win easily. But Genshin Impact had an ace up its sleeve: its reward system. Whenever Genshin Impact takes home an award, players often receive free Primogems, so the community had extra motivation to show up and vote in huge numbers. That kind of built-in incentive can turn an ordinary fan vote into a full-blown rally.

Here's how the finalists stacked up in the eyes of many fans:

Finalist Why It Was Notable
Baldur's Gate 3 Massive goodwill and critical darling
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Expansion, not a full game
Genshin Impact Older live-service title with Primogem incentives
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Huge PlayStation blockbuster
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Major Nintendo heavy hitter

Looking Back From 2026

Fast-forward to 2026, and the 2023 snub still stands out as a memorable talking point. Hogwarts Legacy continued to sell well and receive post-launch support, but The Game Awards 2023 simply wasn't in the cards. Whether someone points to the game's polarizing reputation, the brutal competition, or plain bad luck, the result was the same: one of the year's most successful releases left the show empty-handed. In an industry where fan passion can sometimes rewrite the script, that was a hard pill to swallow for the Hogwarts Legacy community.