The Game Awards menjadi ajang yang paling ditunggu-tunggu oleh komunitas gamer menjelang pergantian tahun. Seperti di tahun-tahun sebelumnya, ada banyak game menarik yang bersaing untuk mendapatkan status terbaik di berbagai kategori untuk tahun ini.
Total ada 32 kategori yang diperebutkan di The Game Awards 2022, mulai dari Game of the Year, Best Mobile Game, Best Esports Game, Best Multiplayer Game, hingga Best Indie Game. Game yang dinominasikan tergolong cukup padat, mengingat banyaknya game yang banyak ditunda pada tahun 2021 akibat efek pandemi COVID-19. The Game Awards 2022 diselenggarakan pada 8 Desember 2022 lalu di Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, Amerika Serikat.
The moment you’ve all been waiting for, Game of The Year! A massive congratulations to @ELDENRING for their big win! @fromsoftware_pr #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/3042IRMEcm
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 9, 2022
Game of the Year untuk tahun ini jatuh pada Elden Ring. Game dari FromSoftware ini sempat menjadi sebuah fenomena besar di awal tahun 2022. Walaupun memiliki genre yang cukup niche, penjualan Elden Ring terbilang cukup sukses. Game ini berhasil mengalahkan God of War Ragnarök, A Plague Tale: Requiem, Horizon Forbidden West, Stray, dan Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
Wow! @Lornebalfe and #TheGameAwards Orchestra never disappoint! Enjoy this incredible performance! pic.twitter.com/vxv9XgKRbg
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 9, 2022
Salah satu momen yang mencuri perhatian di The Game Award tahun ini adalah aksi seorang musisi yang sangat energik dan ekspresif ketika pertunjukkan orkestra berlangsung. Sebelum pembacaan pemenang dilaksanakan, penonton disuguhkan pertunjukan orkestra yang memainakan theme song dari masing-masing kandidat Game of the Year.
Walau hanya berselang beberapa menit saja, perhatian penonton tertuju kepadanya, yang belakangan diketahui bahwa ia adalah Pedro Eustache. Ia sudah sering tampil pada perhelatan besar, khususnya pada event film dan gaming.
Seperti tahun-tahun sebelumnya, ada banyak developer yang memamerkan game-game mereka melalui beragam trailer yang mengudara pada ajang tersebut.
Berikut ini daftar pemenang The Game Awards 2022:
Best Mobile Game – Marvel Snap
Nominasi: Apex Legends Mobile, Diablo Immortal, Genshin Impact, Tower of Fantasy
Best Ongoing Game – Final Fantasy 14
Nominasi: Apex Legends, Destiny 2, Fortnite, Genshin Impact
Best Independent Game – Stray
Nominasi: Cult of the Lamb, Neon White, Sifu, Tunic
Best Debut Indie Game – Stray
Nominasi: Neon White, Norco, Tunic, Vampire Survivors
Best Action Game – Bayonetta 3
Nominasi: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Neon White, Sifu, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Best Action/Adventure Game – God of War Ragnarök
Nominasi: A Plague Tale: Requiem, Horizon Forbidden West, Stray, Tunic
Best Role-Playing Game – Elden Ring
Nominasi: Live a Live, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Triangle Strategy, Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Best Fighting Game – MultiVersus
Nominasi: DNF Duel, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R, The King of Fighters XV, Sifu
Best Family Game – Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Nominasi: Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Nintendo Switch Sports, Splatoon 3
Best Sim/Strategy Game – Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Nominasi: Dune: Spice Wars, Total War: Warhammer 3, Two Point Campus, Victoria 3
Best Sports or Racing Game – Gran Turismo 7
Nominasi: F1 22, FIFA 23, NBA 2K23, OlliOlli World
Best Multiplyer Game – Splatoon 3
Nominasi: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, MultiVersus, Overwatch 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Most Anticipated Game of 2023 – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Nominasi: Final Fantasy 16, Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4, Starfield
Games for Impact Award – As Dusk Falls
Nominasi: A Memoir Blue, Citizen Sleeper, Endling — Extinction is Forever, Hindsight, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
Best VR/AR Game – Moss: Book 2
Nominasi: After the Fall, Among Us VR, Bonelab, Red Matter 2
Best Direction – Elden Ring
Nominasi: God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West, Immortality, Stray
Best Narrative – God of War Ragnarök
Nominasi: A Plague Tale: Requiem, Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, Immortality
Best Art Direction – Elden Ring
Nominasi: God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West, Scorn, Stray
Best Score and Music – Bear McCreary (God of War Ragnarök)
Nominasi: Olivier Deriviere (A Plague Tale: Requiem), Tsukasa Saitoh (Elden Ring), Two Feathers (Metal: Hellsinger), Yasunori Mitsuda (Xenoblade Chronicles 3)
Best Audio – God of War Ragnarök
Nominasi: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Elden Ring, Gran Turismo 7, Horizon Forbidden West
Best Performance – Christopher Judge (God of War Ragnarök)
Nominasi: Ashly Burch (Horizon Forbidden West), Charlotte McBurney (A Plague Tale: Requiem), Manon Gage (Immortality), Sunny Suljic (God of War Ragnarök)
Best Community Support – Final Fantasy 14
Nominasi: Apex Legends, Destiny 2, Fortnite, No Man’s Sky
Content Creator of the Year – Ludwig
Nominasi: Karl Jacobs, Nibellion, Nobru, QTCinderella
Best Adaptation – Arcane: League of Legends
Nominasi: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, The Cuphead Show!, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Uncharted
Award for Innovation in Accessibility – God of War Ragnarök
Nominasi: As Dusk Falls, Return to Monkey Island, The Last Of Us Part 1, The Quarry
Best Esports Game – VALORANT
Nominasi: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, DOTA 2, League of Legends, Rocket League
Best Esports Athlete – Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9, VALORANT)
Nominasi: Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (Gen.G, League of Legends), Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (T1, League of Legends), Finn “karrigan” Andersen (FaZe Clan, CS:GO), Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
Best Esports Team – LOUD (VALORANT)
Nominasi: DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends), FaZe Clan (CS:GO), Gen.G (League of Legends), LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
Best Esports Coach – Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (Loud, Valorant)
Nominasi: Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS:GO), Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (FPX, VALORANT), Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström (FaZe Clan, CS:GO), Go “Score” Dong-bin (Gen.G, League of Legends)
Best Esports Event 2022 – League of Legends World Championship
Nominasi: EVO 202, PGL Major Antwerp 2022, The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational