It’s understood at this point that nobody really watches Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards for the awards themselves, the results of which usually run the gamut from inevitable to irritating. No, people watch for the trailers, because Keighley and his team might be miles away from building an Oscras for video games, they have created its Super Bowl, with advertisers paying big money to debut trailers, and even outright announce projects, to the events’ million-plus viewers.
So, while we’ll note the winners in passing tonight, we’re much more interested in the trailers, i.e., the part that constitutes actual news. As such, we’re going to update this list throughout the night as more big trailers roll out, starting with an Elden Ring spin-off, a completely bonkers Pac-Man game, and a trailer for a new Witcher game that we’re only mildly irritated seems to ignore our own personal Witcher 3 ending.
Shadow Labyrinth
Was this game designed solely to screw with those of us who’ve already seen Prime Video’s Secret Level, with its super-edgy take on Pac-Man? Who can say, but the idea of adding Pac-Man powers into a Metroidvania is genuinely pretty cool.
The Witcher IV
We don’t know why our Ciri, who was very busy ruling the world at the end of The Witcher 3, is now running around in the dirt fighting nasty monsters, but at least she looks like she’s having a good time.
Elden Ring: Nightreign
Does this feel like a mercenary effort to get more blood out of the Elden Ring stone? Yes. Will we play the hell out of it with our buddies? Also yes.
Untitled genDesign game
You don’t need a name when you have a tease like this, showing what appears to be a mecha version of the kind of technology previously seen in creator Fumito Ueda’s Shadow Of The Colossus. Consider us teased.
The Outer Worlds 2
We didn’t love The Outer Worlds, but it’s still nice to see a studio like Obsidian getting the support to make something bigger (and hopefully better) than its past efforts.
Split Fiction
Hazelight makes consistently interesting games, even if they’re sometimes too ambitious for their own good. This latest, about dueling writers, looks to continue the trend.
Steel Hunters
Big robots, big Transformers vibes.
The Long Dark 2: Blackfrost
Beautiful and mournful.
Borderlands 4
Yup, that sure is a Borderlands trailer. (At least there aren’t any jokes.)
More to come…