Rise and shine, gamers! As 2023 rapidly approaches its logical end, the time has come to judge whether 2023 really was the greatest year for video games the only way we know how — by reviewing the best gaming memes of the passing year.

It seems like 2023 really was the best of times and the worst of times. The year brought us some of the highest-rated, community-loved video games of recent memory, including masterful achievements of the craft such as Baldur's Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Marvel's Spider-Man 2. But 2023 was also a year when we witnessed inexcusable fails such as The Lord of the Rings: Gollum and The Day Before.

But even if you were not actively enjoying the many AAA hits and indie masterpieces this year and chose to sit on the sidelines, gaming memes likely found a way into your personal online bubble. Let's take one more look at memes and formats that shaped 2023 in the world of gaming.

AI Presidents Gaming

The start of 2023 was marked by an unexpected appearance of a new type of gamer: the presidential gamer (not to be confused with the Gamer President). The AI voice was the last ingredient needed for mass-producing voice-acted memes without actual voice acting (be sure to ask consent for using one's voice — even if it's a president!).

Clips in which Donald Trump 1v1'd Joe Biden on Rust and Barack Obama teamed up with Bill Clinton to dig for diamonds in Minecraft were the test batch of memery cooked with EvenLabs AI, which paved the way for more use of this emerging technology throughout the entire year.

While the Presidents Gaming memes have been voiced with AI, they wouldn't have been half as entertaining to watch if mememakers didn't manage to display some of the most creative writing we saw this year, so kudos for that!

Video Game Apologies

While the trend of video game apologies did not start this year (the credit goes to Bethesda apologizing for Fallout 76 launch back in 2018, and to CDPR's endless apologies for Cyberpunk 2077 delays), 2023 was truly the year when the art of publishers pushing out a subpar, unfinished product only to apologize for it a few days after reached its peak.

Only between February and May, we saw back-to-back apologies for PC ports of _The Last of Us Part I, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and The Lord of the Ring: Gollum, making it three games in three months.

The profusion of cases of developers dropping on their digital knees and folding their digital hands to beg for forgiveness was inevitably followed by parody apologies that cranked the absurdity of the situation up to 11.

Anyway, there was a good reason for all of this, because while 2023 produced some of the best games, it was also the time of …

The Big Trash-Off

It's comical how the title of the "worst game of the year" passed from one game to another as the gaming industry managed to produce increasingly terrible games as 2023 progressed. When Redfall came out in May and got a meh 4 out of 10 from IGN, many firmly believed that it would end up as the worst notable game we saw in 2023.

However, less than a month later, the world witnessed the disastrous The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which instantly drew the hit of the failed co-op shooter. The story repeated itself when Skull Island: Rise of Kong, featuring such technological advancements as a PNG in the middle of a cutscene, dropped in October, only to have its crown stolen again by The Walking Dead: Destinies.

Now when the dust has settled, it looks like we finally have the winner: The Day Before, which got a super F from pretty much every gaming website. Congratulations! 🎉🎉🎉

Pizza Tower

Going back to games that were not only good but also inspired memes, fan art and all sorts of discussions, we have Pizza Tower, an indie gem that just kept on giving.

This Wario Land-inspired, high-energy action platformer about a severely depressed and mentally unstable pizzeria chef came into 2023 with an existing fandom thanks to early builds and demos. The release only propelled the game to exponentially larger heights of popularity.

Besides endless fan art, animations and other content lovingly crafted by its fans, Pizza Tower also spawned its own meme formats, such as the “Special Guest” fan art trend and the notorious Peppino Scream.

The inescapable ubiquity of the game in the digital space also led to its honorary inclusion into the Pizza Tower Ohio Rizz Gyatt slang overload format, which was something its fans were not too thrilled about. The perils of fame …

Moushley

Speaking of fan art, there's one video game character that seemingly left every other contender in the dust this year. We're talking, of course, about Ashley Graham from Resident Evil 4, a remake of which was released this year. There's a small caveat, though: Instead of drawing Ashley as a human (boring, uncool), artists opted to draw the President's daughter as a mouse (brave, avant-garde, appeals to furries) who's always craving for some cheese.

One possible explanation for why the Moushley trend got as big as it did is that Miss Graham does indeed have a very mouse-like personality, and an endless supply of cheese puns artists came up with just seemed to fit her very well.

Also, just look at those cute little ears, awww.

Crucified Koroks

Enough cuteness! It's time to talk about how people committed war crimes against Koroks in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom now.

Yes, we know, Koroks do not feel pain, nor can they die. Yes, they do look extremely crucifiable. Yes, the game gives you every tool to build elaborate machines that can torture Koroks by the dozen and that it encourages you to explore the limits of your morality what is achievable with the many tools it provides.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the Korok Rotisserie machine. #ZeldaTearsOfKingdom pic.twitter.com/LCtsRdfGov

— Pory (@pory_leeks) May 11, 2023

But ask yourself, "Is crucifying Koroks truly a victimless crime?" Yes, absolutely.

"Do you lose a part of your soul with every Korok you subject to brutal torture?" No.

"But is it really that fun?" Yes, both for you and for the Koroks too, probably, a win-win for every party involved.

die pic.twitter.com/k6I6SAxCPQ

— Oyff (@Oyffie) May 14, 2023

Dagoth Ur

AI Preisdents were far from the only gaming meme powered by AI voice this year. The rise of Dagoth Ur (the final boss from the 2002 The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind) memes came unexpected for some, but if you've ever dabbed in The Elder Scrolls memery for any period of time, this sudden blast from the past shouldn't be half as surprising, considering how big the character has been in community's memes.

Now, after general Dagoth Ur posting has been enhanced with AI voicing capabilities, the presence of the character grew large enough to spill from the Elder Scrolls fandom onto gamers not familiar with the Awakened Lord of the Sixth House.

Listening to Dagoth Ur doing random, mostly unhinged stuff and ranting about everything on Earth has been endlessly entertaining even for those who had to learn about the memorable character in 2023. My lord, we bow to thee.

Fortnite Skins

While tech Twitter keeps talking about how cool some hypothetical metaverse will be in the future, we already have a perfectly fine metaverse developing in Fortnite.

"Imagine playing as any chara—" bro, we already have Thanos and Naruto fighting Chun-Li and John Wick in the same game, griddying gently as they go.

This year was particularly fruitful for Fortnite-inspired memes: seemingly every release of a new character skin was followed by a massive influx of memes.

This year alone, we had Futurama, Invincible, Jujutsu Kaisen, Eminem and, to top it all off, Peter Griffin himself coming to the game, with each bringing memes and giving players new options for in-game shenanigans. Seeing Ariana Grande finally unite with Peter brought a tear to our eyes fr fr.

Lethal Company

It seems like every year we get this one cooperative game that majestically brings every friend group together for a bonding experience of a shared adventure filled with camaraderie, laughs and strife to leave no good man behind.

This year it looks like Lethal Company, a survival co-op in which four dudes get to collect scrap in abandoned, monster-filled facilities across the galaxy, stepped up to fill this important niche.

Lethal Company's ideas may not be original, but they complement each other in a way that manages to instill primal fear in the bravest of boys.

Fittingly, Lethal Company memes are often tales of loss and fear, heroism and betrayal, and we're all here for that.

Baldur Gate 3 Memes

We could sing odes to Baldur's Gate 3 being a masterful achievement all day long, but there are plenty of other websites that fit the job better than we do.

Instead, we'll rather take another look at the meme legacy Baldur's Gate has already built, and will likely keep building for years to come.

Colorful companions, infuriating dice rolls, bear love — Baldur's Gate 3's meme presence has been a journey filled with many memorable stops.

When the community discovered how well Tumblr posts fit Shadowheart, Astarion, Karlach, Gale and other characters, even voice actors from the game couldn't resist joining in on the fun.

oh wow, how could we say no with this many people asking so nicely? #Shadowheart #JenniferEnglish https://t.co/lcXeFDWZeZ pic.twitter.com/sPyWk8NSab

— Aliona Baranova (@alionabaranova1) August 20, 2023

All of that makes Baldur's Gate 3 one of the most impactful meme-producers of the year. Could it reach Fallout New Vegas levels of meme legacy one day?

Honorable Mentions

It would be unfair if looking back at 2023 we didn't give a shoutout to some gaming memes that weren't as big, as impactful, or as "gaming" but had their time in the spotlight anyway, so here are our honorable mentions:

Madcap, the Goncharov of Team Fortress 2.

Mimi-Sentry, because one Team Fortress 2 meme is not enough.

The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, a divisive indie game a whole family can enjoy.

Garten of Banban, the most innovative and revered game of the decade (or so the memes say).

Elephant Peach, the spicier Bowsette of our era.

If X Had Roblox, which taught us about what Zumbo Sauce is.

And Tenacious D's 'Video Games,' a song for the gamers, by the gamers.

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Looking for more of this year's best viral phenomena and memes? Be sure to check out our other 2023 meme roundups below:

• The Top 10 Memes Of 2023 — Coming soon…
• KYM Staff Picks Of 2023
• A Year On Twitter With Elon Musk
• Top Gaming Memes Of 2023
• Wackiest Stories Of 2023
• Top Trolls, Rumors and Hoaxes Of 2023
• Top Viral Videos Of 2023
• Top Slang Terms Of 2023
• Breakthrough Meme Formats Of 2023
• Most Impactful Fandoms Of 2023
• Top Anime Memes Of 2023
• Top Lewd Memes Of 2023