The Game Awards will be held on Thursday, December 8th. This event recognizes creative and technical excellence in the $220 billion global video game industry. The New York Times has called The Game Awards the Oscars of gaming (minus any outbursts by Will Smith).
In 2021 the Awards attracted 85 million livestreams globally and 1.5 million tweets about the event. Good job Mr. Keighley – who would have thought that a boy from Toronto could build this kind of success.
Last year, the Game of the Year was awarded to Swedish-based video game development company Hazelight and its California-based Electronic Arts publisher for “It Takes Two”. A matching feature film and TV series are now in development, with rights secured by Amazon.
In 2022, the nominees for Game of the Year include:
Stray from Annapurna Interactive (publisher) and Blue Twelve Studio (developer)
Stray is a cat who falls into a walled city populated by robots, machines and mutant bacteria, who sets out to return to the surface with the help of a drone friend.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 from Nintendo and Monolith Soft
In this game Noah and his 2 childhood friends from Keves, and Bio and her 2 fellow servicemen from Agnus, gain a mysterious power and decide to cooperate to find safety. They uncover the mystery behind the perpetual war and the nature of their world.
A Plague Tale: Requiem from Focus Entertainment and Asobo Studio
The game is set directly after the events of A Plaque Tale: Innocence, continuing on with the story of Amicia and Hugo de Rune as they journey across Provence to find a cure for Hugo’s condition.
Elden Ring from BNE Entertainment and FromSoftware
Elden Ring takes place in the Lands Between, previously ruled by Queen Marika who was keeper of the Elden Ring. She shattered the ring and disappeared, leaving her children to war over pieces of the Ring. Now a group of exiles, the Tarnished, are summoned back to the Lands Between. They must traverse the realm to repair the Elden Ring and establish a new Elden Lord.
Horizon Forbidden West from Sony Interactive Entertainment and Guerrilla Games
This game continues the story of Aloy, after the events of the Zero Dawn. A young huntress from the Nora tribe is sent to find the source of a mysterious plague that kills all it infects. On her journey Aloy encounters hostile regions filled with natural threats, massive storms, dangerous enemies and deadly machines.
God of War Ragnarök from Sony Interactive Entertainment and Santa Monica Studio
In this game, Fimbulwinter is underway. Kratos and Atreus must journey to each of the Nine Realms in search of answers as Asgardian forces prepare for a prophesied battle that will end the world.
You can cast votes for all award categories directly or via Discord until 9 PM ET/6 PM PT on Wednesday, December 7th.
The Game Awards will be streamed live (and free) on The Game Awards Twitch and YouTube channels, along with direct feeds on other sites, including Steam, Oculus Venues, IGN, Gamespot, Facebook Live, TikTok, Trovo, Instagram Live and Twitter. The Awards begin with a 30 minute pre-show at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT, followed by the main show at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT.
So far, the following show teasers are being tossed around:
- A live presentation from Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida
- A live performance of "Blood Upon The Snow" from God of War Ragnarok by Hozier
- A mystery project from 505 Games involving Michael Madsen
- New Among Us news during the pre-show
- Josef Faris, lead developer of 2021 Game Of The Year “It Takes Two”, has been confirmed as a presenter
- A picture of a Tekken 8 themed package tweeted by Twitch streamer Aris--and Keighley's eye emoji reply--hint at a reveal
Now take what you’ve learned and play today’s Game Awards Quiz of the Day:
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