Play as a cat in a futuristic city Stray was this year's big science fiction winner at The Game Awards, winning both Best Debut Indie Game and Best Indie Game.

For a small developer's (Blue Twelve Studio) first game, it packed a lot of punch. Or perhaps we should say scratch.

It was also nominated for but didn't take home Game of the Year and several others.

Bayonetta 3 won best Action Game and Marvel Snap won Best Mobile Game.

Though nominated in 7 categories, action roleplaying game Horizon Forbidden West won none.

Fantasy titles Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarok dominated as many would have expected.

Although in both cases one of their awards is of potential interest to science fiction lovers.

Christopher Judge, who we all know and love as Stargate's Teal'c, kicked off the ceremony with a win for his performance as Kratos in God of War Ragnarok.

That award was presented by Al Pacino who confessed to not being a gamer, but having spent a lot of time watching his grandchildren play games and come to admire their capacity for immersive story-telling.

While Teal'c is famous for his lack of verbosity and could communicate virtual essays with a single "Indeed", Christopher's acceptance speech was lengthy.

Though not boring.

And also not attributed to him on The Game Awards YouTube channel who record that fellow God of War Ragnarok actor Sunny Suljic won.

Afterwards Geoff Keighley joked that Christopher was trying to give away a few more Steam decks - Valve running a promotion where they gave away one Steam deck every minute of the show to viewers on their platform.

Congratulations to Christopher and also all of those extra Steam deck winners.

Though perhaps not on par with an Oscar, The Game Awards are one of the biggest in gaming and this is an industry rapidly gaining mainstream artistic credibility.

It's great to see him win this.

Elden Ring won four awards, including Game of the Year and during his acceptance speech, Fromsoft's Hidetaka Miyazaki had this to say:

This might not be the right thing to say on the occasion of receiving the GOTY award but I have made up my mind to create even more interesting games than this one.

Previously hinted at and finally officially unveiled during the awards was their next game, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon.

Definitely sci-fi. Lots of mechs. Coming in 2023.

Fresh from a developer who won Game of the Year, Best Roleplaying Game, Best Game Direction and Best Art Direction.

Also being nominated for several other awards.

We've played Elden Ring. It's worthy of all those wins.

Our expectations of Armored Core VI are very high.

Potentially significant here is the lack of specificity in its launch window.

Sci-fi / fantasy Tiny Tina's Wonderlands has shortcomings of its own but releasing one month after Elden Ring pretty much doomed it.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor gave us a March 17 release date during the awards, and Starfield is currently slated for the first half of the year.

We might see some strategic scheduling with the two uncommitted titles.

Trailer Town

As everyone has come to expect, the awards were brimming with trailers.

Many expected. Some not. A few confirming leaks or prior hints.

Interesting to see several new MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online roleplaying games). Has been very quiet in that corner for years.

• Judas - A new game from the creator (but not owner) of Bioshock, Ken Levine. Recognisable Bioshock like art style and combat. No ETA.
• Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon - Looks to be a more fantasy title (witch in the woods) with an interesting art style. But it's an origin story for the sci-fi Bayonetta franchise. Release March 17, 2023.
• Destiny: Lightfall - Upcoming expansion to online shooter / roleplaying game Destiny. Release February 28, 2023.
• Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League - First official trailer and also tribute to Kevin Conroy, who voiced Batman in many cartoons and games and died recently. Also revealing that he voiced Batman in this one. Release May 26, 2023.
• The Last of Us - Part 1 - PC release date of March 3 for previously PS5 exclusive.
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - First gameplay trailer. Interestingly shows one of Kal's new force powers freezing laser bolts mid-air which is one of those new force powers from the not universally loved Disney trilogy. Release March 17, 2023.
• Dune Awakening - An in engine but cinematic quality trailer for an upcoming open world survival MMO. No ETA. Currently accepting beta applications.
• DS2 (Death Stranding 2) - Trailer for newly announced sequel. No ETA.
• Nightingale - Trailer showing more of the magic than tech in this old world, alternate history world jumping sandbox survival game. ETA 2023, but wouldn't be surprised to see it delayed again.
• Wayfinder - Trailer for a new online roleplaying game with World of Warcraft style graphics. Looks mostly fantasy but with some definite sci-fi elements, like "mutators" and advanced technology. No ETA.
• Horizon: Forbidden West - Burning Shores - Trailer for first expansion, set in Los Angeles. Complete with the big Hollywood sign. Release April 19, 2023 on PS5.
• Blue Protocol - Trailer for a new MMORPG by Bandai Namco and Amazon Games. Labelled as sci-fi / fantasy (in that order) and a post-apocalyptic setting, but the look is typical anime fantasy. ETA 2023.
• Transformers Reactivate - Trailer for a new online action game. No ETA.
• Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 - Trailer for action roleplaying game. ETA 2023 on PC, Xbox X|S and PS5.
• Meet Your Maker - Release date (April 4, 2023) trailer.
• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - Expansion trailer for action roleplaying game. ETA 2023.
• Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon - Fromsoftware (Elden Ring developer). Mechs. Some kind of stellar event or planet busting weapon? Major destruction. ETA 2023.

[ Main Image: Armore Core VI reveal trailer. Credit: The Game Awards / Bandai Namco via YouTube. ]

References

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Blue Protocol - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Destiny 2: Lightfall - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). DS2 - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Dune: Awakening - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Judas - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Kevin Conroy Announcement and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League - World Premiere Trailer. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Meet Your Maker - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Nightingale - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Star Wars Jedi: Survivor World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Sunny Suljic Wins Best Performance for God of War Ragnarök at The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). THE GAME AWARDS 2022: Official 4K Livestream: Today at 7:30p ET/4:30p PT/12:30a GMT. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Transformers Reactivate - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Wayfinder - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

thegameawards (December 8, 2022). Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 - World Premiere Trailer | The Game Awards 2022. YouTube.

Wikipedia. The Game Awards 2022. (viewed December 9, 2022)