It's that time of the year. We've gone through the best games of 2018 according to our staff, genre by genre, though we did not announce the individual winners yet. We'll do so once the community poll, opening now and due to last a week, will also provide us with our community's picks to go along with the staff's.
There's one caveat for the very last category, the one dedicated to the most anticipated games due in 2019. This year is peculiar in that big, universally hyped titles like Cyberpunk 2077, The Last of Us Part II, Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3, Ghost of Tsushima, Death Stranding, Halo Infinite or Age of Empires IV do not have any firm release window. That is to say, they haven't been confirmed by any of the respective publishers to be coming in 2019, which makes them unlikely to launch this year.
For this reason, we have decided to leave them out of our list. They would have easily garnered the most votes, sure, but chances are gamers might not get to play them in 2019 (though we'd absolutely love to be wrong).
That's why we only listed titles which have been definitively confirmed to target a release this year. Of course, there's always a chance for any of them to slip, but that's par for the course in the industry. The point is they've got a nailed down release window while the aforementioned heavyweights currently do not.
With that out of the way, let the votes begin!
Check our Best of 2018 series: Roleplaying Games, Action Games, Strategy & Simulation Games, Shooter Games, Adventure Games, Platformers, Survival Games, Fighting Games, Multiplayer Games, Sports & Racing Games, Indie Games
- Far Cry 5 34%, 190 votes190 votes 34%190 votes - 34% of all votes
- Battlefield V 24%, 132 votes132 votes 24%132 votes - 24% of all votes
- Insurgency: Sandstorm 17%, 95 votes95 votes 17%95 votes - 17% of all votes
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII 13%, 70 votes70 votes 13%70 votes - 13% of all votes
- Destiny 2: Forsaken 12%, 66 votes66 votes 12%66 votes - 12% of all votes
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey 37%, 208 votes208 votes 37%208 votes - 37% of all votes
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance 35%, 198 votes198 votes 35%198 votes - 35% of all votes
- Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire 11%, 63 votes63 votes 11%63 votes - 11% of all votes
- Dragon Quest XI 7%, 41 vote41 vote 7%41 vote - 7% of all votes
- Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom 5%, 29 votes29 votes 5%29 votes - 5% of all votes
- Octopath Traveler 4%, 24 votes24 votes 4%24 votes - 4% of all votes
- God of War 37%, 211 votes211 votes 37%211 votes - 37% of all votes
- Red Dead Redemption 2 36%, 205 votes205 votes 36%205 votes - 36% of all votes
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider 13%, 74 votes74 votes 13%74 votes - 13% of all votes
- Marvel's Spider-Man 10%, 54 votes54 votes 10%54 votes - 10% of all votes
- Yakuza Kiwami 2 4%, 23 votes23 votes 4%23 votes - 4% of all votes
- Detroit: Become Human 34%, 154 votes154 votes 34%154 votes - 34% of all votes
- HITMAN 2 29%, 132 votes132 votes 29%132 votes - 29% of all votes
- Shadow of the Colossus 17%, 76 votes76 votes 17%76 votes - 17% of all votes
- A Way Out 15%, 70 votes70 votes 15%70 votes - 15% of all votes
- The Walking Dead: The Final Season 5%, 21 vote21 vote 5%21 vote - 5% of all votes
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 35%, 145 votes145 votes 35%145 votes - 35% of all votes
- Dragon Ball FighterZ 28%, 117 votes117 votes 28%117 votes - 28% of all votes
- Soulcalibur VI 22%, 91 vote91 vote 22%91 vote - 22% of all votes
- Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition 12%, 48 votes48 votes 12%48 votes - 12% of all votes
- BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle 1%, 6 votes6 votes 1%6 votes - 1% of all votes
- Fighting EX Layer 1%, 4 votes4 votes 1%4 votes - 1% of all votes
- Frostpunk 30%, 118 votes118 votes 30%118 votes - 30% of all votes
- Valkyria Chronicles 4 20%, 77 votes77 votes 20%77 votes - 20% of all votes
- Farming Simulator 19 12%, 49 votes49 votes 12%49 votes - 12% of all votes
- Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden 12%, 46 votes46 votes 12%46 votes - 12% of all votes
- Into The Breach 10%, 40 votes40 votes 10%40 votes - 10% of all votes
- Football Manager 2019 9%, 35 votes35 votes 9%35 votes - 9% of all votes
- Two Point Hospital 7%, 28 votes28 votes 7%28 votes - 7% of all votes
- Spyro: Reignited Trilogy 31%, 109 votes109 votes 31%109 votes - 31% of all votes
- Dead Cells 29%, 100 votes100 votes 29%100 votes - 29% of all votes
- Celeste 24%, 84 votes84 votes 24%84 votes - 24% of all votes
- Gris 11%, 39 votes39 votes 11%39 votes - 11% of all votes
- Guacamelee 2 5%, 16 votes16 votes 5%16 votes - 5% of all votes
- Subnautica 46%, 185 votes185 votes 46%185 votes - 46% of all votes
- No Man's Sky NEXT 20%, 78 votes78 votes 20%78 votes - 20% of all votes
- The Forest 17%, 68 votes68 votes 17%68 votes - 17% of all votes
- Conan Exiles 10%, 38 votes38 votes 10%38 votes - 10% of all votes
- Metal Gear Survive 8%, 30 votes30 votes 8%30 votes - 8% of all votes
- Forza Horizon 4 70%, 283 votes283 votes 70%283 votes - 70% of all votes
- FIFA 19 11%, 46 votes46 votes 11%46 votes - 11% of all votes
- Mario Tennis Aces 9%, 35 votes35 votes 9%35 votes - 9% of all votes
- Football Manager 2019 5%, 20 votes20 votes 5%20 votes - 5% of all votes
- Ride 3 3%, 12 votes12 votes 3%12 votes - 3% of all votes
- Gravel 2%, 9 votes9 votes 2%9 votes - 2% of all votes
- Monster Hunter World 35%, 143 votes143 votes 35%143 votes - 35% of all votes
- Fortnite 20%, 81 vote81 vote 20%81 vote - 20% of all votes
- A Way Out 16%, 65 votes65 votes 16%65 votes - 16% of all votes
- Destiny 2: Forsaken 12%, 49 votes49 votes 12%49 votes - 12% of all votes
- Warhammer: Vermintide 2 9%, 37 votes37 votes 9%37 votes - 9% of all votes
- Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset 7%, 29 votes29 votes 7%29 votes - 7% of all votes
- Celeste 33%, 103 votes103 votes 33%103 votes - 33% of all votes
- Into the Breach 22%, 69 votes69 votes 22%69 votes - 22% of all votes
- Gris 19%, 60 votes60 votes 19%60 votes - 19% of all votes
- Return of the Obra Dinn 14%, 44 votes44 votes 14%44 votes - 14% of all votes
- Moonlighter 9%, 29 votes29 votes 9%29 votes - 9% of all votes
- Minit 2%, 6 votes6 votes 2%6 votes - 2% of all votes
- God of War 30%, 153 votes153 votes 30%153 votes - 30% of all votes
- Red Dead Redemption 2 27%, 136 votes136 votes 27%136 votes - 27% of all votes
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey 11%, 58 votes58 votes 11%58 votes - 11% of all votes
- Far Cry 5 6%, 31 vote31 vote 6%31 vote - 6% of all votes
- Forza Horizon 4 6%, 29 votes29 votes 6%29 votes - 6% of all votes
- Marvel's Spider-Man 5%, 26 votes26 votes 5%26 votes - 5% of all votes
- Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire 5%, 24 votes24 votes 5%24 votes - 5% of all votes
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 4%, 19 votes19 votes 4%19 votes - 4% of all votes
- Monster Hunter World 4%, 19 votes19 votes 4%19 votes - 4% of all votes
- Dragon Quest XI 4%, 18 votes18 votes 4%18 votes - 4% of all votes
- Metro Exodus 23%, 116 votes116 votes 23%116 votes - 23% of all votes
- The Outer Worlds 12%, 59 votes59 votes 12%59 votes - 12% of all votes
- Anthem 10%, 49 votes49 votes 10%49 votes - 10% of all votes
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice 10%, 49 votes49 votes 10%49 votes - 10% of all votes
- Resident Evil 2 9%, 47 votes47 votes 9%47 votes - 9% of all votes
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 8%, 42 votes42 votes 8%42 votes - 8% of all votes
- Devil May Cry 5 6%, 31 vote31 vote 6%31 vote - 6% of all votes
- Tom Clancy's The Division 2 5%, 26 votes26 votes 5%26 votes - 5% of all votes
- MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries 4%, 18 votes18 votes 4%18 votes - 4% of all votes
- Shenmue III 3%, 14 votes14 votes 3%14 votes - 3% of all votes
- Wasteland 3 3%, 14 votes14 votes 3%14 votes - 3% of all votes
- Untitled 'Core' Pokémon Nintendo Switch Game 3%, 13 votes13 votes 3%13 votes - 3% of all votes
- Gears 5 2%, 10 votes10 votes 2%10 votes - 2% of all votes
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order 2%, 9 votes9 votes 2%9 votes - 2% of all votes
- Control 1%, 5 votes5 votes 1%5 votes - 1% of all votes