It’s that time of year when Geoff Keighley gets on his stage to announce The Game Awards nominees for 2022. This year's nominees for Game of the Year include some expected titles as well as a few surprises that probably don’t stand much of a chance but are nice to see mentioned anyway.
As chosen by over 100 influential video games outlets from around the world, here are your nominees for The Game Awards Game of the Year 2022:
- Plague Tale Requiem
- Elden Ring
- God of War: Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Stray
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
By far the two standouts from this list are Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarok, which are both the highest-rated games of 2022 thus far (sorry, Sonic Frontiers). Elden Ring achieved perfect scores from multiple outlets when it was released earlier this year, and although God of War: Ragnarok’s scores aren’t quite as impressive, it’s still widely considered one of the best games of 2022. It’ll be interesting to see how these two behemoths throw down leading up to The Game Awards ceremony in December.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is a surprise entry for us here at The Gamer. It's certainly a compelling sequel to one of most interesting narrative games in recent memory, but it featured gameplay mechanics that never seem to be fully utilized and is hampered by a final act that is hopelessly morose.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, meanwhile, gave an impressive showing over the summer, although it seems unlikely to stand up to the might of Elden Ring. Ditto Horizon Forbidden West, which like its predecessor, decided to release at exactly the wrong time, and Stray, which although adorable, is a bit of a one-trick kitty.
Elden Ring made it into the nominees for quite a few categories, including Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Score & Music, Best Audio Design, and Best Narrative. We might be weeks away from an Elden Ring sweep. The Game Awards host its awards ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on December 8.