5 takeaways from The Game Awards 2022 nominations

On Monday, November 14, Geoff Keighley announced the official nominations for The Game Awards 2022. Games from various genres were nominated for a number of awards, with Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarok, and Horizon Forbidden West featuring heavily throughout.

The Game Awards is a yearly event filled with glitz and glamor that not only awards games for their achievements but also showcases new titles that players can hope to see in the near future. This year's event will be held in Los Angeles at the Microsoft Theater on December 8.

---

Major highlights from The Game Awards 2022 official nominations

The official nominations were revealed via a live stream hosted by Keighley. Players and fans from around the world can visit the official Game Awards website and cast their votes in various categories.

1) God of War Ragnarok

With 10 in total, God of War Ragnarok has the most nominations in this year's event, including Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Action/Adventure. The title was one of the most anticipated games of 2022.

Santa Monica Studio's sequel to their 2018 title, God of War, shifted the franchise's focus to the Norse pantheon. It was a critical success and is widely considered one of the best video games ever made.

A week after its release, it is clear that the sequel has managed to yet again capture the imagination of fans and critics alike. Sportskeeda's very own God of Ragnarok review scored the title 9.5, noting that "a solid case could be made for this being Game of the Year for 2022."

God of War Ragnarok's The Game Awards 2022 nominations:

• Game of the Year
• Best Game Direction
• Best Narrative
• Best Art Direction
• Best Score and Music
• Best Audio Design
• Best Performance (Christopher Judge and Sunny Suljic)
• Best Action/Adventure
• Innovation in Accessibility

---

2) Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West

Coming in behind God of War Ragnarok, both FromSoftware's Elden Ring and Guerilla Games' Horizon Forbidden West scored a total of seven nominations each, including Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2022.

Directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki with inputs from George R. R. Martin, Elden Ring tasks players in the Lands Between to repair the titular ring and become the new Elden Lord. The game utilizes elements from the Dark Souls series but in an open-world scenario.

Elden Ring's The Game Awards 2022 nominations:

• Game of the Year
• Best Game Direction
• Best Narrative
• Best Art Direction
• Best Score and Music
• Best Audio Design
• Best Role Playing

Horizon Forbidden West continues Aloy's story set in the post-apocalyptic United States of America, as she explores the mysterious region of the Forbidden West. A sequel to 2017's Horizon Zero Dawn, the game received mostly positive reviews, with Sportskeeda giving it a 9.

Horizon Forbidden West's The Game Awards 2022 nominations:

• Game of the Year
• Best Game Direction
• Best Narrative
• Best Art Direction
• Best Audio Design
• Best Performance
• Best Action/Adventure

---

3) Stray

Stray was nominated for the Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2022, along with being selected in six other categories. The debut title from BlueTwelve Studio was a highly anticipated indie game that quickly became a sensation upon release.

Stray puts players in the paws of an orange cat as it explores the cyberpunk environment of a city while trying to make its way back up to its family. Sporting a delightfully designed game world, Sportskeeda's Stray review considered it one of the most exciting titles of the year, with "a refreshing new premise in its protagonist and the perspective the cat provides in exploring the urban world."

Stray's The Game Awards 2022 nominations:

• Game of the Year
• Best Game Direction
• Best Art Direction
• Best Indie
• Best Debut Indie
• Best Action/Adventure

---

4) The all-new Best Adaptation category

The Game Awards 2022 will feature an all-new category called Best Adaptation, which seeks to award the best "game-inspired projects across entertainment," according to the press release.

The nominations for this category are as follows:

• 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)

---

5) Sony Interactive Entertainment notches the most number of nominations as a publisher

Sony Interactive Entertainment managed 20 nominations across various categories revealed during the announcement, with titles like Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok in the running for the Game of the Year award.

Following Sony Interactive Entertainment, Annapurna Interactive and Nintendo scored 11 nominations each. The former had a strong showing across the board, with a number of titles like Stray, Neon White, and A Memoir Blue. Bandai Namco followed up with eight nominations and Riot Games with six.