Sony, Nintendo, From Software win big at The Game Awards 2022

A lot of announcements, exciting trailers plus quite a few surprises for gamers. Here’s what stood out.


The Game Awards 2022 event was one of the best in recent memory and a great way to celebrate the gaming industry’s current achievements, as well as give fans a lot to look forward to in 2023 and 2024. (Image: The Game Awards)


It’s no secret that Geoff Keighly’s The Game Awards is an event the games industry truly needed in order to highlight its best work, but… let’s be honest here: we all watch it for the reveal trailers of new titles and the often splashy announcements that take place during the awards ceremony. The 2022 event was quite satisfying in that regard: we got a lot of release dates for upcoming games, a number of much-promising trailers plus a few notable surprises. A lot of ground to cover in a few short paragraphs, so here are the most important news.

First, the winners of the 2022 Game Awards: there were quite a few really strong nominations this year, but three or four titles managed to win in most categories — which might not sound like a good thing… but for the likes of Elden Ring or God of War Ragnarok is perfectly understandable. Stray and Final Fantasy 14 also picked up a few awards, while Sony and Nintendo should be pleased with themselves for successfully being represented by winning titles in several different categories. Without further ado, here are all the 2022 Game Awards in detail.

Elden Ring won multiple awards in important categories, despite its distant February release and strong competition from Sony’s recent, sublime God of War: Ragnarok. (Image: From Software)


Game of the Year
Elden Ring (From Software/Bandai Namco)

Best Direction
Elden Ring (From Software/Bandai Namco)

Best Narrative
God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

Best Art Direction
Elden Ring (From Software/Bandai Namco)

Best Score and Music
Bear McCreary, God of War Ragnarök

Best Audio
God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

Best Performance (Actor)
Christopher Judge, God of War Ragnarök

Games for Impact
As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)

Best Ongoing Game
Final Fantasy 14 (Square Enix)

Best Independent Game
Stray (Blue Twelve Studio/Annapurna)

Best Debut Indie Game
Stray (Blue Twelve Studio/Annapurna)

Best Community Support
Final Fantasy 14 (Square Enix)

Best Mobile Game
Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse)

Best Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Game
Moss: Book 2 (Polyarc)

Best Action Game
Bayonetta 3 (Platinum Games/Nintendo)

Best Action/Adventure Game
God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

Best Roleplaying Game
Elden Ring (From Software/Bandai Namco)

Best Fighting Game
MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)

Best Family Game
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (HAL Laboratory / Nintendo)

Best Sim/Strategy Game
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)

Best Sports or Racing Game
Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)

Best Multiplayer Game
Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Most Anticipated Game of 2023
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Content Creator of the Year
Ludwig

Best Adaptation
Arcane: League of Legends (Fortiche/Riot Games/Netflix)

Award for Innovation in Accessibility
God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

Best E-Sports Game
Valorant (Riot Games)

Best E-Sports Athlete
Jacob “Yay” Whitaker (Cloud9, Valorant)

Best E-Sports Team
LOUD (Valorant)

Best E-Sports Coach
Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (Loud, Valorant)

Best E-Sports Event
2022 League of Legends World Championship

Street Fighter 6 is coming out in June 2023 and Capcom has a lot to talk about regarding that much-anticipated game until then. (Image: Capcom)


Right. With that out of the way, release dates: Street Fighter 6 will launch, as previously leaked, on June 2, in three different versions — the trailer also confirmed some already known characters such as Dee Jay, JP, Manon and Marisa. Another leaked release date, that of Diablo 4, was also confirmed: June 6th. Final Fantasy 16, shown for the first time, also gets a June release date (22nd) and it’s looking amazing. Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is out on March 17th. Sony’s Horizon: Forbidden West gets its first (?) DLC in the form of Burning Shores, taking place in Los Angeles and coming on April 19th exclusively for the PS5, while The Last of Us Part I gets a PC release on March 3. Even sooner, the Lightfall expansion for Destiny 2 will be out on February 28th. The PC version of Returnal did not get a date more specific than “early 2023” but… you know. It’s coming.

Last but not least: reveals and a number of, well, official confirmation of numerous 2021–2022 leaks about games expected to be released in 2023 or 2024. Hideo Kojima’s next game is indeed Death Stranding 2, it already looks fantastic but has no release date yet. The same goes for Bandai Namco’s Tekken 8, which looks just as spectacular in gameplay form as it does in its cut-scenes and will probably be released sooner. After Us is a new atmospheric adventure game published by Silent Division (due out 2023), Crash Team Rumble looks like a colorful team-based 3D Multiversus (also due out 2023) and Earthblade is an impressive 2D platformer from the makers of indie darling Celeste (due out 2024). From Software decided to mix things up next, revealing Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon — yes, the mecha shooter series — due out 2023.

Biggest surprise of the event: Hades II, the sequel to one of the best video games ever, will be released in early access by Supergiant at some point in 2023. Not bad for an award ceremony, no?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Kostas Farkonas

Veteran reporter with over 30 years of industry experience in various media, focusing on consumer tech, entertainment and digital culture. No, he will not fix your PC (again).

Veteran reporter with over 30 years of industry experience in various media, focusing on consumer tech, entertainment and digital culture. No, he will not fix your PC (again).

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