Marvel's Spider-Man 2 didn't win any of its 7 Game Awards nominations, and fans think it's because the sequel played things too safe

PlayStation — (Image credit: Insomniac Games)

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was in the running for a plethora of awards at The Game Awards 2023 but left the event empty-handed.

The PS5 exclusive was nominated in no less than seven categories, including the highly coveted Game of the Year, as well as Best Game Direction and Best Performance for Yuri Lowenthal's portrayal of Peter Parker. The Game of the Year award went to Larian's acclaimed Baldur's Gate 3, while Alan Wake 2 scooped the prize for Game Direction. And unfortunately for Spider-Man 2, it was also pipped to the post in every other category.

Fans of the sequel have been giving their reaction to this unfortunate turn of events. Twitter user @jo_akawu writes, "This isn't fair.. it's a great game and deserves an award". Also disappointed is @SyphonFilthy, who says, "I just finished the game …it should've won something", and @sevymb, who describes the situation as an "absolute robbery." On the Spider-Man subreddit user Beizal says, "This is absolutely devastating," also claiming that it "should have won something."

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Still, some aren't hugely surprised that Spider-Man 2 didn't win anything because they feel Insomniac played it too safe. "If you look beneath the Spider-Man layer, it's a pretty paint-by-numbers open-world game," writes one player. Another describes it as "genuinely too safe" and a "cookie cutter of a sequel." A third says that while the game was "great," they felt it "didn't really bring anything next level to the table."

Many others say that they thoroughly enjoyed the sequel but acknowledge that the competition this year was immense. "I loved Spider-Man 2," says Canine-Smile19 in a separate post. "It is my personal GOTY, and I loved Yuri's performance. But this year was stacked and it's okay SM2 didn't win. This is all about showing love and appreciation for games."

Conversely, Baldur's Gate 3's director meant to announce the Xbox version at The Game Awards, but completely forgot.

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.