Voting Open for The 2022 Game Awards

Geoff Keighley’s annual game industry award show returns December 8th for its ninth consecutive year. The 2022 nominees have just been announced and fan-voting is open from now until 6 pm PT on Wednesday, December 7. The Game Awards’ 2022 edition will feature the 31 categories listed below:

• Best Game Direction
• Best Narrative
• Best Art Direction
• Best Score and Music
• Best Audio Design
• Best Performance
• Games for Impact
• Best Ongoing Game
• Best Indie Game
• Best Mobile Game
• Best Community Support
• Innovation in Accessibility
• Best Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality Game
• Best Action Game
• Best Action / Adventure Game
• Best Role-Playing Game
• Best Fighting Game
• Best Family Game
• Best Simulation / Strategy Game
• Best Sports / Racing Game
• Best Multiplayer Game
• Content Creator of the Year
• Best Debut Indie
• Best Adaptation
• Most Anticipated
• Best eSports Game
• Best eSports Athlete
• Best eSports Team
• Best eSports Coach
• Best eSports Event
• And of course, Game of the Year

Of all the games listed, MultiVersus is easily the nominee most notable for SB readers, as Tony Huynh’s platform fighter/Warner Bros. love letter is eligible for the best multiplayer and best fighting game categories. The former will give the game a run for its money, pitting it against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022), Overwatch 2, Splatoon 3 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. MultiVersus’ odds seem much more favorable in the fighting game category though, competing with the under-supported DNF Duel, the PS3 re-release JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R, The King of Fighters XV and its barely-functional online matchmaking and—amusingly—Sifu; a single-player only action game that doesn’t even belong in the stated genre.

As for the overall best game of the year, the narrative-driven A Plague Tale: Requiem, open-world soulslike Elden Ring, hotly anticipated God of War: Ragnarok, Zelda-esque Horizon: Forbidden West, indie darling Stray and hit JRPG Xenoblade Chronicles 3 have all been nominated.

Players can vote online at https://thegameawards.com/ for their favorite nominees in every category, although the votes will not determine The Game Awards’ jury winners, only the fan’s choice awards will be determined this way. The Game Awards will be streamed for free across all major streaming platforms on Thursday, December 8th and will run from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm PT.

Credits:
Graphics: @Zerp
Social Media: @Zerp

 

i think it'd be more honest if they called "best art direction" "most powerful graphics" instead

 

i think it'd be more honest if they called "best art direction" "most powerful graphics" instead

Well the nominees for that one are Elden Ring, GoW Ragnarok, Horizon: Forbidden West, Scorn and Stray so those last two at least are definitely not there just for technical fidelity

 

Well the nominees for that one are Elden Ring, GoW Ragnarok, Horizon: Forbidden West, Scorn and Stray so those last two at least are definitely not there just for technical fidelity

touche.

 

Yeah its a bit unfair how like 3 Triple aaa GAmes got almost every Main Spot i deliberatly didnt vote for them!
(I wouldve skipped the Votes for those but for some reason that isnt Possible!
Also Nintendo Deserves More Love in these Awards! Xenoblade 3 is the only game that got significant attention!
Again Come on Kirby Shouldve been in a Plattformer Category aswell as Family the Game was really good!

 

Yeah its a bit unfair how like 3 Triple aaa GAmes got almost every Main Spot i deliberatly didnt vote for them!
(I wouldve skipped the Votes for those but for some reason that isnt Possible!
Also Nintendo Deserves More Love in these Awards! Xenoblade 3 is the only game that got significant attention!
Again Come on Kirby Shouldve been in a Plattformer Category aswell as Family the Game was really good!

You should be able to skip categories by clicking the next/previous category buttons at the top of the screen. I skipped a few categories too because I didn't have enough experience with any of the nominees (Best narrative, best performance, best VR/AR etc.)

 

You should be able to skip categories by clicking the next/previous category buttons at the top of the screen. I skipped a few categories too because I didn't have enough experience with any of the nominees (Best narrative, best performance, best VR/AR etc.)

Okay i thought the Button was on the bottom okay!

 

You should be able to skip categories by clicking the next/previous category buttons at the top of the screen. I skipped a few categories too because I didn't have enough experience with any of the nominees (Best narrative, best performance, best VR/AR etc.)

Ok, thanks

 

MultiVersus’ odds seem much more favorable in the fighting game category though, competing with the under-supported DNF Duel, the PS3 re-release JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R, The King of Fighters XV and its barely-functional online matchmaking and—amusingly—Sifu; a single-player only action game that doesn’t even belong in the stated genre.

I'm quite puzzled to how Sifu even got nominated within the fighting game category even though it really isn't a fighting game. I know that this year the genre hasn't had much stellar releases but once 2023 rolls in I'm sure the likes of Street Fighter 6 and perhaps Tekken 8 could put fighting games back on the spotlight.

 

Multiversus is super fun and the crossover shenanigans are awesome, but skimming over a couple of replies, I feel like I need to chime in. This was a solid year for fighting games, and a bunch of older ones had DLC, too, so that's cool

Anyway, I think it seems a bit disingenuous to criticize other games' online while glossing over Multiversus' flaws. Its online can be quite buggy. Instead of lagging, it isn't uncommon for players to straight up teleport, for example. And there's an ongoing bug when a character can't be used at all. And this is just online, what about other things to consider like content? Balance?

Due to its nature of being a live service game, I can see it winning an ongoing game award once it gets a bit more polish, but in its current state, I don't think it's fair to compare it to games that are complete and that released with less... jank, for lack of a better word. Simply put, it's a work in progress, in my opinion. A super fun one, I might add, but not fighting game of the year material

I'm quite puzzled to how Sifu even got nominated within the fighting game category

It's a beat 'em up, which, while distinct is still closely related. A bit of gray area, but it fits in both fighting and action game categories, I think

 

Anyway, I think it seems a bit disingenuous to criticize other games' online while glossing over Multiversus' flaws. Its online can be quite buggy. Instead of lagging, it isn't uncommon for players to straight up teleport, for example. And there's an ongoing bug when a character can't be used at all. And this is just online, what about other things to consider like content? Balance?

In my opinion, none of these are as important to the play experience as simply being able to get into a match. Lag, bad balance and sparse content are all fair to criticize, but eliminating those issues is only going to do so much if getting into the part of the game where you can actually interact with any of that stuff is a pain in the butt.

With that said, KoFXV is still the only nominee I could see winning over MultiVersus thanks to the good reception it had at this year's Evo and the consistently strong support it's received since then.

 

Matchmaking is just one aspect of a game. Multiversus is a game that can only be played online, so it's nice that its matchmaking is pretty good and that it has a large/active community because of how accessible it is to play (both as a platform fighter and because it's free-to-play). But for most of its lifespan, and even in its current state, it needs a lot of polish. It's a work-in-progress. I mean, it went an entire season with an inaccessible tutorial segment because of an oversight, and this is just one of several gamebreaking glitches (and don't get me started on the hitbox issues). It can and will improve (I think it can be a strong contender for best ongoing game eventually because of its long-term support) but its flaws - the sum of its parts - should be considered when factoring in something that's "game of the year" material, in my opinion. Being able to get into matches isn't important if you keep encountering jank during said matches. And even still, there's currently a glitch when a character (Reindog) is literally unplayable

I think another valid criticism to consider is its restrictive local play. Currently, there's no way to play games locally with three players (you can't even add a bot), which is a bit baffling for a platform fighter. And the game being online-only is a double-edged sword: its connection/latency issues, the aforementioned teleporting, etc. is ever-present

But I digress, I'm personally rooting for KoF XV, but between it and Phantom Breaker Omnia, DNF Duel, Sifu, Multiversus, etc... we had a good year for fighting games, I think. Especially for ongoing ones like Melty and Strive

 

Matchmaking is just one aspect of a game. Multiversus is a game that can only be played online, so it's nice that its matchmaking is pretty good and that it has a large/active community because of how accessible it is to play (both as a platform fighter and because it's free-to-play). But for most of its lifespan, and even in its current state, it needs a lot of polish. It's a work-in-progress. I mean, it went an entire season with an inaccessible tutorial segment because of an oversight, and this is just one of several gamebreaking glitches (and don't get me started on the hitbox issues). It can and will improve (I think it can be a strong contender for best ongoing game eventually because of its long-term support) but its flaws - the sum of its parts - should be considered when factoring in something that's "game of the year" material, in my opinion. Being able to get into matches isn't important if you keep encountering jank during said matches. And even still, there's currently a glitch when a character (Reindog) is literally unplayable

I think another valid criticism to consider is its restrictive local play. Currently, there's no way to play games locally with three players (you can't even add a bot), which is a bit baffling for a platform fighter. And the game being online-only is a double-edged sword: its connection/latency issues, the aforementioned teleporting, etc. is ever-present

But I digress, I'm personally rooting for KoF XV, but between it and Phantom Breaker Omnia, DNF Duel, Sifu, Multiversus, etc... we had a good year for fighting games, I think. Especially for ongoing ones like Melty and Strive

Now that it's too late to vote and I can't sway anyone even if I wanted to, I'll say that I too did actually vote for King of Fighters XV lol.

Online still sucks, tho.

 

Matchmaking is just one aspect of a game. Multiversus is a game that can only be played online, so it's nice that its matchmaking is pretty good and that it has a large/active community because of how accessible it is to play (both as a platform fighter and because it's free-to-play). But for most of its lifespan, and even in its current state, it needs a lot of polish. It's a work-in-progress. I mean, it went an entire season with an inaccessible tutorial segment because of an oversight, and this is just one of several gamebreaking glitches (and don't get me started on the hitbox issues). It can and will improve (I think it can be a strong contender for best ongoing game eventually because of its long-term support) but its flaws - the sum of its parts - should be considered when factoring in something that's "game of the year" material, in my opinion. Being able to get into matches isn't important if you keep encountering jank during said matches. And even still, there's currently a glitch when a character (Reindog) is literally unplayable

I think another valid criticism to consider is its restrictive local play. Currently, there's no way to play games locally with three players (you can't even add a bot), which is a bit baffling for a platform fighter. And the game being online-only is a double-edged sword: its connection/latency issues, the aforementioned teleporting, etc. is ever-present

But I digress, I'm personally rooting for KoF XV, but between it and Phantom Breaker Omnia, DNF Duel, Sifu, Multiversus, etc... we had a good year for fighting games, I think. Especially for ongoing ones like Melty and Strive

I agreed with you.