The Game Awards 2022 is just days away — maybe less depending on when you’re reading this — but we’ve been hard-pressed to hold down our excitement as a slew of news has been pouring in over the past week. Being broadcast live from Los Angeles at 4:30 p.m. PT on Thursday,Players' Voice votingfor what has been called the Oscars of vdeo games is still open at the time of this writing, so if you haven’t made your final picks, you still have a chance.
A ton of presenters, entertainers, and special announcements have already been telegraphed ahead of time, including what is likely to be breaking news fromFinal Fantasy franchise Producer Naoki YoshidaandDeath Stranding 2 lead Hideo Kojima, as well as some sort ofannouncement on Tekken 8.Irish singer-songwriter Hozierwill entertain us with a live performance of Blood Upon The Snow from God of War Ragnarok, and evenThe Muppets' Animalwill get in on the action, albeit as an award presenter.
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Meanwhile, if you haven’t already signed up, you’ve missed your shot atrewards for co-streamingthe live event, but you could still win yourself a Steam Deck, as the gaming platform willoffer up one every minuteduring the broadcast to viewers watching through Steam. And if you’re streaming because you can’t get out to LA, fear not, because the show’s founder has been tossing around the idea ofmoving it around the worldannually.
The Games Awards aren’t the only game awards, though, and this week Genshin Impact and Elden Ringtook home top prizesduring the PlayStation Partner Awards.
What’s New?
Even with all that awards show hype, we’ve still had time to bring you the latest in game releases, and all eyes have been on The Callisto Protocol, whichreleased on December 2. It hasn’t been a flawless release, as performance issues havemarred its early user reviews, but Striking Distance has beenquick to release a patchto attempt to clear issues up. Anticipation for the game wasn’t really helped along, though, asan entire Twitch stream playthroughhad leaked ahead of the launch. Players can at least look forward to future content, as the developer’s roadmap for the game hastwo new game modescoming in February and more surprises on the way.
Also out this past week, to much less troubled — but also less publicized — debuts wereWarhammer 40,000: Darktide, released November 30, andMarvel’s Midnight Suns, released December 2.
We Like Fortnite! We Like Fortnite!
Memes aside, a lot of people like Fortnite, and after some server downtime withthe end of Chapter 3, December 4 saw the start of Season 4 with great fanfare, including the new map (which of courseleaked ahead of release), newreality augment perks, and graphical upgrades as the game has graduated torun on Unreal Engine 5.1. And while it may not have as many humorous Internet videos of flossing children, fellow battle royale mega hit Overwatch 2 is gettingits own set of upgradesfor Season 2 on December 6, including new hero Rammatra, the Shambali Monastery map, and the limited time Battle For Olympus mode.
The End Of A Smashing Era
Turning now to the world of esports, one of the biggest Smash Bros. competitions in the worldhas shut its doors, presumable for good, as Smash World Tour and Nintendo couldn’t seem to come to terms ahead of the Smash World Tour 2022 Finals. Details are still a bit murky, though, as Nintendoissued a rebuttalover the weekend denying the claim that it had not forced the tournament to shut down despite not granting licensing to the organizers.
NEXT:DualShockers Week In Review: The Top News Stories From November 21-27
