The Game Awards returned last night bigger than ever with a whole host of awards, world premieres, and… President Bill Clinton?
The biggest night in gaming championed a broad selection of games from across the industry. In this post, we’re taking a look at our highlights from the event.
World Premiers and Announcements
This year’s Game Awards were chock-a-block with world premieres, announcement trailers, and first looks at some incredible upcoming games. We could not be more excited to be heading into 2023!
Hades II
Meet the Princess of the Underworld. Supergiant games announced HADES II is on the way, and details about early access are coming in 2023. With the first game picking up countless awards, and hordes of passionate fans (us included), we cannot wait!
On the official Hades 2 page, the team have announced the game will be available for early access leading up to the official launch.
“Like its predecessor, Hades II will be available in Early Access for some time leading up to its full v1.0 launch. Expect more information on Hades II Early Access sometime in 2023.”
If you can’t wait till then, you can add Hades II to your wishlist on Steam or the Epic Games Store.
The Last of Us
The Last of Us was hugely awarded when it initially launched on PlayStation in 2013, offering an experience like no other.
Finally, PC gamers will be able to experience the game with a port officially confirmed for March 3rd 2023.
Star Wars Jedi Survivor
One of, if not the largest announcement at this year’s Game Awards, EA and Respawn Entertainment have unveiled Star Wars Jedi Survivor will launch on March 17th 2023. In the official reveal trailer, we caught a glimpse of some gameplay with Cal utilising the force to turn a Stormtrooper into a human shield.
Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty
Get ready to pledge your allegiance to the New United States of America. Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty is on the way. The world premiere of the upcoming CD Project Red DLC gave us some exciting details.
Idris Elba is entering the Cyberpunk universe as NUSA agent Soloman Reed. The teaser trailer showcases an all-new look at Night City’s Dogtown, alongside some exciting new characters.
Final Fantasy XVI
As the night’s final world premier producer and director of Final Fantasy 14, Naoki Yoshida introduced the trailer for Final Fantasy XVI, alongside a PS5 release date of June 22nd 2023.
If nothing else, the trailer has us hyped. Final Fantasy XVI looks like it will have some great fighting, world-building, and characters.
This month saw three games released from the dev giants, following a trailer drop for Final Fantasy XVI in late October. With plenty of classic JRPG style and immersive gameplay, we have been well and truly spoiled for Square Enix content…
There was so much announced at this year’s awards. From an incredibly cinematic trailer for Dune Awakening, an open-world survival MMO, to emotional gem Valliant Hearts returning with a new game, Valiant Hearts Coming Home. We can’t mention them all here, so make sure you check out the full Game Awards below.
The Awards
Onto the actual awards themselves. This year saw 31 categories from GOTY all the way to the Games for Impact award.
Game of The Year
There was fierce competition for GOTY, with incredible titles such as Stray, God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, and more all up nominated. However, FromSoftware and Bandi Namco’s Elden Ring reigned supreme, grabbing the prestigious title.
Elden Ring cleaned up during the rest of the Game Awards, taking home Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction, and Best Role-Playing game. Whilst there has been a fierce debate between God of War and Elden Ring fans, the game studios behind both chose the wholesome route.
Elden Ring, shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely… TLDR, we are absolutely mad about Elden Ring here at Overclockers UK.
Best Indie Game Debut
Don’t worry. The cat game won some awards too. Stray leapt straight from development into everyone’s hearts. The Best Indie award celebrates outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside of a traditional publisher system.
Stray also picked up Best Debut Indie, an award for the best debut game created by a new independent studio.
Best Narrative
This award celebrates outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game. God of War Ragnarok collected this award, thanks to the incredible story of Kratos and Atreus as they set out to break prophecy.
Ragnarok didn’t stop there, either. The game went on to win Best Score and Music, Best Audio Design, Best Performance for Christopher Judge’s Kratos, Innovation in Accessibility, and Best Action / Adventure.
Best VR/AR
The award for Best VR/AR went to Moss: Book II, showcasing the best experience playable in Virtual or Augmented Reality irrespective of platform.
This single-player, action-adventure puzzle game has already picked up VR game of the Year at the VR Awards.
Former US President Bill Clinton?
What is this, a crossover episode? Seemingly out of nowhere, during the end of Elden Ring’s GOTY award acceptance speech, a person took to the microphone to say, “I want to thank everybody and say that I think I want to nominate this award to my reformed orthodox Rabbi Bill Clinton.”
It’s not entirely clear what their motives were. However, moments after they started, they were removed from the stage, a little while later, Game Awards host and creator Geoff Keighley tweeted that the person had been arrested, not before they became a meme, though.
It’s not entirely clear what their motives were. However, moments after they started, they were removed from the stage. A little while later, Game Awards host and creator Geoff Keighley tweeted that the person had been arrested. Not before they became a meme, though.
Did we miss your highlight?
This year’s Game Awards was jam-packed full of new game announcements, trailers, and awards. We’ve taken a look at our highlights but be sure to let us know yours down in the comments. You can check out the full list of winners on the Game Awards website.
- 6 min read
Robert Mullane
Author
When not working, you'll find me in VR or losing in bottom-tier Valorant matches. I write about all topic's tech and gaming with a particular focus on representation in gaming, virtual reality, and LGBTQ+ themes. If you're still not fed up with me, you can also catch me over on the Overclockers UK TikTok and YouTube accounts.
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What was with the weird bill Clinton guy haha