This year’s Game Awards knocked it out of the park when it came to reveals. The actual awards were another story
If the goal of the modern awards show is to make â€moments,†then The Game Awards 2022 certainly rose to the occasion – and then some. The Geoff Keighley-produced ceremony was among the showâ€s best overall efforts yet, packing in an excellent slate of reveals, some genuine surprises, and enough “WTF” moments to make headlines even at mainstream publications that don’t normally pay attention to the world of gaming.
While it may have been a particularly exciting show for fans and casual viewers, it was an uneven ceremony when it came to the actual awards. Rushed winner announcements and speeches took a back seat to flashy trailers over the course of the night. That certainly isnâ€t new for the nine-year-old show, which has built its reputation on providing E3-calibur announcements, but awards felt like a noticeably low priority during the broadcast.
That dynamic made for a sometimes disappointing show that didnâ€t always feel like it functioned as an industry celebration. Instead, it was a night engineered for social engagement – something that wound up being its Achilles heel by the nightâ€s bizarre finale.
If you tuned into The Game Awards 2022 just to see some new trailers, you likely walked away happy. Keighley was at his best as a curator this year, pulling together an impressive slew of trailers that somehow dodged leaks. A stunning Death Stranding 2 reveal and live appearance by creator Hideo Kojima created one of the showâ€s most hair-raising moments to date. I was in the Microsoft Theater for the ceremony, and the energy in the room was palpable; it felt historic.
That was far from the showâ€s only big â€world premiere,†though. A fantastic Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon debut had attendees screaming, Hades 2 shocked the crowd, and Final Fantasy XVI made for a much stronger closing reveal than Fast & Furious Crossroads or an Unreal Engine 5 tech demo based on The Matrix series. Even Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which had its release date unceremoniously leaked before the show, got a massive reaction. No announcement had its thunder stolen, allowing the show to feel like a â€canâ€t miss†spectacle.
