By Juan Rios-Perez
The top video games of 2022 were just honored at the 2022 Game Awards. It seems like there is an award ceremony for everything, but the idea of rating, ranking and honoring the top video games, is so important because this is a large and growing industry. Geoff Keighley is the event’s originator and producer.
A Canadian, Keighley knows technology, both of his parents were executives at IMAX. He has said, “I got an appreciation of awards shows from my parents and the Oscars.” He has been reviewing games ever since he started Game Slice in 1996, a game magazine for reviewing and rating games. So it was a no-brainer for him to make a game award show.
Just like the Oscars, California was the place where this awards show took place, specifically, the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Sydnee Goodman served again as the host of the preshow ceremony, to an audience that attended by invitation only.
Even if you did not get the invitation for this event this year, it was livestreamed across a whopping 40 online platforms. Others opted for the full IMAX experience to see the stars of the video game world.
The top game this year was not a surprise for those of us in the video game world. God of War: Ragnorok won in six categories and was nominated for 11. Ragnorok took first place in the entire competition, winning Best Narrative and Best Game Play. Christopher Judge won for Best Performance for his portrayal of Kratos in God of War, and McCreary won for Best Score and Music, for you guessed it, God of War.
The Game of the Year was not given to Ragnorok though. That honor along with Best Game Direction and Best Role Playing Game went to Elden Ring. During the presentation, several new games were revealed to the audience, including Crash Team Rumble, Death Stranding 2, Hades II, and Judas. They all look amazingly fun.
There are enough categories to award games from all types and styles and tastes. Members of the game community get to vote for winners in various categories. Some of these categories are creativity, multiplayer, ongoing, and others.
Other games that won are easily recognizable for those of us who play video games, including Splatoon 3 for Switch, Neon White on PC and Switch, Pentiment on Xbox and PC, Horizon Forbidden West on Playstation, OlliOlli World for all consoles and PC, Return to Monkey Island on Switch and PC, A Little to the Left and Marvel Snap on PC.
It was a fun awards show, but better than that, it was a chance to root for your favorite games. The winners were well chosen, and all these games are great. So, after you are done with your homework, get on that console and play!
