The Game Awards is an annual show that brings together the biggest names in gaming to honor the year’s best titles. The ceremony, hosted by Geoff Keighleylater this week, is also an excuse to showcase trailers and announcements for upcoming titles, keeping the show from being a stodgy suit-and-tie affair. This year’s award show will also be «significantly shorter» than in the past.

Game of the Year nominees include God of War: Ragnarök, Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Stray and A Plague Tale: Requiem. We also know that we’ll get more information on Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, Tekken 8, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Sky: Children of the Light, a new game from Jenova Chen, the mind behind 2012’s Journey. Presenters will include HBO’s The Last of Us’ Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, Final Fantasy VXI producer Naoki «Yoshi-P» Yoshida and Animal from The Muppets.

How to watch The Game Awards 2022 on YouTube, Twitch and everywhere else

The 2022 Game Awards will be broadcast from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Thursday starting at 4:30 p.m. PT / 7:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 a.m. GMT. It will stream live on every major platform, including:

• YouTube in 4K
• Twitch
• Twitter
• Facebook Live
• Steam
• Oculus Venues
• IGN
• GameSpot
• TikTok Live
• Trovo
• Instagram Live.

Select IMAX theaters will also showcase The Game Awards, giving fans not in Los Angeles a premium experience. Those in Los Angeles who want to go see the show live are out of luck as tickets are no longer available for purchase.

What announcements to expect at The Game Awards 2022

Past Game Awards have given us glimpses at The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Death Stranding and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. This year, fans can expect a new game from publisher 505 Games and Fortnite maker Epic Games. A teaser site is live that showcases the fictional beach side town of Rockay City.

Other than that, not much more has been teased. But if previous years are any indication, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see at least one heavy-hitter from Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony. A new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would surely get people excited, as would Alan Wake II, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Dead Space and the new Korean title Stellar Blade.

The Game Awards 2022 Nominees

This year’s nominees can be found throughout 31 categories, with everything from best game direction to best esports event. Obviously, game of the year is the most anticipated award, but best narrative, art direction, score and music, character performance, and indie will surely get lots of attention. Below is a list of every game nominated.

Game of the Year

• A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
• Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
• God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
• Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)

Best Game Direction

• Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
• God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
• Immortality (Half Mermaid)
• Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

Best Narrative

• A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
• Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
• God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
• Immortality (Half Mermaid)

Best Art Direction

• Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
• God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
• Scorn (Ebb Software/Kepler Interactive)
• Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

Best Score and Music

• Olivier Deriviere, A Plague Tale: Requiem
• Tsukasa Saitoh, Elden Ring
• Bear McCreary, God of War Ragnarök
• Two Feathers, Metal: Hellsinger
• Yasunori Mitsuda, Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Best Audio Design

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
• Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
• God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
• Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony/SIE)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)

Best Performance

• Ashly Burch, Horizon Forbidden West
• Charlotte McBurney, A Plague Tale: Requiem
• Christopher Judge, God of War Ragnarök
• Manon Gage, Immortality
• Sunny Suljic, God of War Ragnarök

Games for Impact

• A Memoir Blue (Cloisters Interactive/Annapurna)
• As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)
• Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller)
• Endling – Extinction is Forever (Herobeat Studios/HandyGames)
• Hindsight (Team Hindsight/Annapurna)
• I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)

Best Ongoing Game

• Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
• Destiny 2 (Bungie)
• FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix)
• Fortnite (Epic Games)
• Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Best Indie

• Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster / Devolver Digital)
• Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)
• Sifu (Sloclap)
• Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
• TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)

Best Debut Indie

• Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)
• NORCO (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury)
• Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
• TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)
• Vampire Survivors (poncle)

Best Community Support

• Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
• Destiny 2 (Bungie)
• FINAL FANTASY XIV (Square Enix)
• Fortnite (Epic Games)
• No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Mobile

• Apex Legends Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum/Respawn/EA)
• Diablo Immortal (Blizzard/NetEase)
• Genshin Impact (HoYovese)
• MARVEL SNAP (Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse)
• Tower of Fantasy (Hotta Studio/Perfect World/Level Infinite)

Best VR/AR

• After the Fall (Vertigo Games)
• Among Us VR (Schell Games/InnerSloth)
• BONELAB (Stress Level Zero)
• Moss: Book II (Polyarc)
• Red Matter 2 (Vertical Robot)

Best Action

• Bayonetta 3 (Platinum Games/Nintendo)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
• Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)
• Sifu (Sloclap)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)

Best Action/Adventure

• A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
• God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
• Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
• Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
• TUNIC (TUNIC Team/Finji)

Best Role Playing

• Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
• Live a Live (Square Enix/Nintendo)
• Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Game Freak/Nintendo/TPCI)
• Triangle Strategy (Artdink/Square Enix)
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)

Best Fighting

• DNF Duel (Arc System Works/EIGHTING/NEOPLE/NEXON)
• JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R (CyberConnect 2 Co. Ltd/Bandai Namco)
• The King of Fighters XV (SNK/Plaion)
• MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)
• Sifu (Sloclap)

Best Family

• Kirby and the Forgotten Land (HAL Laboratory / Nintendo)
• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Traveller’s Tales/WB Games)
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)
• Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
• Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Sim/Strategy

• Dune: Spice Wars (Shiro Games/Funcom)
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)
• Total War: WARHAMMER III (Creative Assembly/Sega)
• Two Point Campus (Two Point Studios/Sega)
• Victoria 3 (Paradox Development Studio/Paradox Interactive)

Best Sports/Racing

• F1 22 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
• FIFA 23 (EA Vancouver/Romania/EA Sports)
• NBA 2K23 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports)
• Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
• OlliOlli World (Roll 7/Private Division)

Best Multiplayer

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)
• MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)
• Overwatch 2 (Blizzard)
• Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)

Most Anticipated

• FINAL FANTASY XVI (Square Enix)
• Hogwarts Legacy (Avalanche Software/WB Games)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
• Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Content Creator of the Year

• Karl Jacobs
• Ludwig
• Nibellion
• Nobru
• QTCinderella

Best Adaptation

• Arcane: League of Legends (Fortiche/Riot Games/Netflix)
• Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (Studio Trigger/CD Projekt, Netflix)
• The Cuphead Show! (Studio MDHR/King Features Syndicate/Netflix)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Sammy Group/Paramount Pictures)
• Uncharted (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)

Innovation in Accessibility

• As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)
• God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
• Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox/Devolver Digital)
• The Last Of Us Part I (Naughty Dog/SIE)
• The Quarry (Supermassive Games/2K)

Best Esports Game

• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
• DOTA 2 (Valve)
• League of Legends (Riot Games)
• Rocket League (Psyonix)
• VALORANT (Riot Games)

Best Esports Athlete

• Jeong «Chovy» Ji-hoon (Gen.G, LOL)
• Lee «Faker» Sang-hyeok (T1, LOL)
• Finn «karrigan» Andersen (FaZe Clan – CS:GO)
• Oleksandr «s1mple» Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
• Jacob «Yay» Whiteaker (Cloud9, Valorant)

Best Esports Team

• DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)
• FaZe Clan (CS:GO)
• Gen.G (League of Legends)
• LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
• LOUD (Valorant)

Best Esports Coach

• Andrii «B1ad3» Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
• Matheus «bzkA» Tarasconi (LOUD, VALORANT)
• Erik «d00mbr0s» Sandgren (FPX, VALORANT)
• Robert «RobbaN» Dahlström (FaZe Clan, CS:GO)
• Go «Score» Dong-bin (Gen.G, LOL)

Best Esports Event

• EVO 2022
• 2022 League of Legends World Championship
• PGL Major Antwerp 2022
• The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
• VALORANT Champions 2022