As much as The Game Awards poses itself as the video games equivalent to Oscars, a lot of people (us included) consider the event’s main appeal to be the excessive trailers and announcements that accompany the actual awards. We were particularly excited this year given how E3, while being completely serviceable, wasn’t particularly exciting.
There’s a veritable truckload to get through, with several hours worth of trailers shown off, so we’re here to give you the condensed version, paying special attention to the biggest stories.
Elden ring gets a cinematic trailer
From Software might be the only studio capable of dragging out and amplifying hype for a game for this long while still (probably) being able to meet the phenomenal expectations it’s built for Elden Ring. The George R. R. collaboration project was awarded another ‘Most Anticipated’ award, and also gave us a look at the suitably dark-fantasy story and lore we can look forward to seeing in the title. This trailer focuses on story rather than gameplay, and you’re probably better off watching it yourself than having us try to describe what’s going on to you.
Sonic the Hedgehog meets Breath of the Wild
Sonic’s got a pretty checkered history as far as 3D games are concerned. On the one hand, Colors. On the other, Rise of Lyric. Not to jump the gun, but after watching the trailer, we think the Blue Blur’s upcoming adventure might find itself fairly far on the positive end of the 3D Sonic spectrum.
Sonic Frontiers got its first teaser trailer alongside the release of Sonic Colors: Ultimate earlier this year. Now that we’ve had a good look at it, we’re excited. In a massive departure from the Sonic formula, this title places the titular hedgehog in an open world, where he can run around full-tilt and, presumably, put a stop to whatever hair-brained scheme Eggman has cooked up this time around. Honestly, it looks like someone modded Sonic into Breath of the Wild, which sounds like a recipe for success as far as we’re concerned. Frontiers is slated for a late-2022 release.
Additionally, we also got a new trailer for the next Sonic movie, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which showed us some familiar Ben Schwartz shenanigans and a more on-model Jim Carrey Dr Robotnik. Additionally, we were also introduced to the lovable sidekick Tails and rough and tumble fist-fighter Knuckles (played by none other than Idris Alba). The film is set to arrive on the 8th of April next year.
A new Star Wars game
We were happy enough for one Star Wars-related game announcement earlier this year, in the form of a KOTR remake, but now we’ve got another title to look forward to next year. Star Wars: Eclipse is an upcoming game set in the High Republic era (that’s around 200 years before the Skywalker saga begins for those of you unfamiliar with Star Wars history), made by Quantic Dream (Heavy Rain, Detroit: Become Human) alongside LucasFilm Games.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get much more than a very foreboding cinematic trailer, and there’s no release date just yet.
Dune gets a new game
Following the rampant success of Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptation of sci-fi hallmark Dune comes Dune: Spice Wars. The first Dune game in over two decades, Spice Wars is a strategy 4X game being made by Shiro Games, known for another RTS, Northgard. Spice Wars hits PCs in 2022.
Alan Wake returns
We got a remake of the original Alan Wake earlier this year, and now we’ve got a sequel to look forward to in 2023. Unlike the first game, Alan Wake 2 looks a lot… scarier. Probably because it’s a survival horror game. This early on there’s not a lot more to report on than the fact that the titular main character looks eerily like Jared Leto…
Get sus in VR
Here’s a bit of a dark horse. Among Us, the quirky asymmetric multiplayer title that got most of the world through 2020, is coming to VR. There’s no date on it just yet, but we do know that it’s coming to Meta (formerly Oculus) Quest 2, PS VR and the Valve’s Index.
Halo hits the small screen
With the early multiplayer and the recent release of the new campaign, Halo hype is at an all-time high. Now we’ve got a Halo TV series to look forward to as well. Story-wise it’s a little bare-bones, but we get some suitably sci-fi slow pans and a formidable appearance by Master Chief himself right at the end. Safe to say, we’re excited.
Another look at Forbidden West
Forbidden West, the Horizon Zero Dawn sequel, got delayed earlier this year, but we’re edging towards its February release date. The Game Awards re-stoked our excitement for the title with a new trailer chock-full of action, robot animals and open-world goodness.
Hellblade’s sequel
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice caused quite a stir with its gorgeous presentation and nuanced exploration of deep psychological themes through action combat. While the trailer for its sequel, Senua’s Saga didn’t give us a release date, we did get a look at some impressive and fittingly gritty cinematics and a gameplay demonstration.
That’s it for the highlights. There’s still quite a bit to look at if you’re inclined, and it’s not that we aren’t excited for some of the titles we left out. These were just the real standouts for us. For a full list of every announcement, head this way.