The Game Awards 2022: The Biggest Game Announcements

The Game Awards took place on December 8, and despite Geoff Keighley's show running a little bit shorter than last year, it was still packed full of game announcements alongside the awards themselves. Some of these were for established franchises, but there were also a few that were completely unexpected. They include the return of a beloved mascot character--but in a whole new type of game--as well as a new crime game featuring the most eclectic list of actors we've ever seen. If you ever wonder what a game with Chuck Norris and Vanilla Ice would look like, then we definitely have some good news for you.

Announcements were varied, including a new Armored Core game, more news on Hideo Kojima's upcoming project, and the long-awaited look at Ken Levine's new project at Ghost Story Games.

Even if you were watching the show live, there is a good chance you didn't get to see everything announced. After all, everyone needs a bathroom break. To help you out, GameSpot rounded up the biggest and best announcements from The Game Awards 2022. Check them out below, and let us know what your favorite moment of the show was.

The show-stopper (except for the last award) of The Game Awards was Final Fantasy XVI, and the trailer focused on the high-octane real-time combat it will feature. Enormous ice meteors crash into the ground, characters wield enormous melee weapons, and others transform into terrifying monsters to battle in kaiju fights. Final Fantasy XVI certainly looks to be cranking everything up to 11, or maybe higher, and we finally know when we can play it. The game launches for PS5 on June 22, 2023.

From Software was already up for a whole bunch of awards during The Game Awards, but it showed up with another announcement. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon was revealed in an exclusive world premiere during the presentation, and it looks quite different from the studio's most famous output--but not different from the studio's past work. In the trailer, we see an enormous wave of red energy soar over a forest, seemingly destroying it and much of the planet. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is releasing in 2023, bringing its mech action to consoles and PC.

Diablo IV was finally given a release date during The Game Awards: June 6, 2023. The game was featured with a cinematic trailer featuring Lilith, who seemed to be putting some sort of enormous, dastardly plan into motion as a bunch of demons fought in a huge battle. Those who preorder Diablo IV will get early beta access. The game is coming to PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One.

Crime Boss: Rockay City sounds like a Mad Libs story, but it is definitely real. The cooperative crime first-person shooter features an absolutely absurd cast, including Michael Masden, Chuck Norris, and Vanilla Ice. Yes, we think we're living in a simulation, too. It's not a simulation, however, and we can't wait to see how it all shapes up--including how it will differentiate itself from the reigning champion of cooperative crime shooters, Payday.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is coming in 2023, and it was featured with a new trailer during The Game Awards. Cal Kestis is seen in the trailer examining a man suspended in a tube of liquid, who says he will "not be imprisoned again" before the trailer cuts to combat footage. Now a much-improved Jedi, Cal is capable of cutting Stormtroopers down to size, and he has plenty of new tricks up his sleeve. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor arrives, complete with Cal's beard, on March 17, 2023.

Baldur's Gate 3 is officially releasing in 2023, which will be nearly three years after it entered early access. In a new trailer, we were introduced to a couple of famous returning characters, and we got a look at the titular city of Baldur's Gate in between very Lovecraftian shots of monsters with far too many tentacles. If you are afraid of spiders or squids, this is not the game for you, but for everyone else, you won't have to wait too much longer to enter Baldur's Gate. The game releases for PC in August 2023.

A post-apocalyptic game from Piccolo and Private Division, After Us isn't your typical brown-and-gray dystopic nightmare. Instead, you play as the last hope for life on Earth, attempting to revive creatures via their spirits. It's coming next spring to PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

Hades developer Supergiant is back with its next game, and it looks every bit as stylish and flat-out cool as its predecessor. Hades 2--yes, Supergiant made a sequel--was teased with an animated trailer that featured a spectral girl fighting against what first appeared to be an evil sorcerer, but then offers her services. The game itself appears to be very similar to the first game, but Kronos is the target this "time" around. Like the first one, it's coming first via early access in 2023.

BioShock director Ken Levine is finally ready to share the project he has been working on with Ghost Story. Judas appears to be cut from the same sort of cloth as BioShock, featuring similar powers and weapons, as well as a similar art direction, but it also looks like it'll be taking us into space. The tagline "Fix what you broke" appeared at the end of the trailer. Judas is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Bayonetta is back… again, but this time with a very different sort of game. Bayonetta Origins is an isometric take on everyone's favorite heroic witch, this time with a little bit of Okami DNA. Taking place when Bayonetta was a child, the game features platforming puzzles and exploration, but it also has plenty of action. It appears Bayonetta, or the girl who would become Bayonetta, was kicking ass before she was out of elementary school. It's coming to Nintendo Switch on March 17.

Rocksteady's upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was featured during The Game Awards, and it gave us a little tease of Batman. The collective baddies seem to be quite afraid of the Caped Crusader, but a little less afraid of The Flash--who also briefly makes an appearance. The late Kevin Conroy recorded his lines for Batman prior to his death, giving fans once last chance to spend some time with the legendary actor. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League releases on May 26.

Kojima Productions is back with another very strange game, and it got a sizable presentation during The Game Awards. Lea Seydoux is back as Fragile in Death Stranding 2, and in the trailer, we see her attempting to evade dangerous operatives while carrying a baby--who is not inside a tiny pod like the ones we saw in the first game. Riding on a motorcycle, she's quickly attacked and goes tumbling to the ground with her baby a few feet away. Norman Reedus and Troy Baker are also returning, and tehre is a giant robot that looks like a Metal Gear, for some reason. Death Stranding 2 is coming exclusively to PS5.