While 2021 has been filled with delays of highly anticipated releases, an equal number of great games will be competing for a multitude of prestigious accolades in all industry-wide game of the year awards next month. However, head of Xbox Phil Spencer seems to already have selected his personal pick for game of the year.
In a conversation with Larry Hyrb, a.k.a. Major Nelson – which you can check out below – Spencer said that Psychonauts 2 is probably his game of the year, and called it the best game Double Fine Productions has shipped to date.
“Frankly for me [Psychonauts 2] is probably my game of the year – just [a] fantastic game,” Spencer said (transcribed by Pure Xbox). “In my view, as a fan of Double Fine, [it’s] the best game that they’ve ever shipped.”
Spencer also recalled playing the original before Psychonauts 2’s release and being surprised by how well it holds up to this day. He said: “Before Psychonauts 2 came out I actually went through back compat and played through the original Psychonauts again really just reliving those moments – I was so impressed with how that stood up.”
Psychonauts 2 also won the Xbox Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick awards earlier this week. For more on the game, check out our review through here.