The Game Awards 2022: 10 Predictions For What We Might See

It’s almost time once again for The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley’s annual advertisement for the next twelve months of gaming wrapped up in the guise of celebrating the successes from the previous twelve months. While we’ve been critical of The Game Awards’ placement as an awards show versus a glorified showreel in the past, there’s no denying the excitement that comes with seeing what the future of gaming looks like.

Figuring out what that future will look like is interesting in and of itself, as there’s a wealth of possibilities regarding games and announcements that could be featured during the bumper event. With that in mind, we’re gazing into our crystal ball to give you our predictions of what we can expect from The Game Awards 2022. If any of these predictions actually come true, just remember: you saw it here first.

 

1. Street Fighter 6 Release Date

Compared to the other predictions on this list, Capcom announcing a release date for Street Fighter 6 feels like the most likely one of them all, and not just because there’s still character gameplay to reveal. A screenshot has been posted on Twitter which seems to show that Street Fighter 6 has been rated in Korea, suggesting that a full release isn’t too far out. Given the high profile nature of The Game Awards, a release date reveal there seems likely.

The exact date that Street Fighter 6’s release date will be is a bit harder to predict, even if we do have the rating. Some games have only received ratings a month or two before launch, while others are rated quite far in advance. For reference, the new Legend of Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom, was also rated around the same time as Street Fighter 6, and TotK has a confirmed May release date.

 

2. Elden Ring DLC

If it wasn’t for God of War Ragnarok, TGA 2022 would have been the year of the Elden Ring sweep, as FromSoftware’s latest game is nothing short of a masterpiece from a development team who’ve been at the top of their game for a long time now. Even with GOW being considered for most of the same categories, there’s every chance Elden Ring will run away with the votes, and that moment would be a perfect time to reveal more Elden Ring content is on the way.

While there’s been no solid confirmation that Elden Ring will ever even receive DLC, it feels like FromSoftware would be leaving money on the table not producing some kind of DLC. Plus, dataminers have already found reference to some kind of new content within the code of some recent updates. Given how integral Geoff Keighley’s events have been in revealing key Elden Ring details, a DLC announcement at TGA 2022 seems like a safe bet.

 

3. Final Fantasy XVI Release Date

We’ve seen plenty of gameplay for Square Enix’s upcoming JRPG at various events over the past year or so, and currently Final Fantasy XVI is penciled in for a vague “Summer 2023” release date. Considering that Final Fantasy XVI is positioned as one of the biggest games of 2023, it’s possible that Square Enix will want to lock down a release date sooner rather than later, so perhaps we might see it make an appearance at The Game Awards.

Hell, even if we don’t end up seeing Final Fantasy XVI, there’s still every possibility that the Final Fantasy series will pop up at The Game Awards 2022 in another capacity. The second game in the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, Rebirth, is also on the way, so Square Enix might decide to use The Game Awards to spotlight a game that’s a bit further away from release. Or, they’ll showcase both.

 

4. Alan Wake 2 Gameplay Trailer

It’s been a good while since Remedy lifted the lid on their plans to revive the Alan Wake franchise with a sequel that aims to dial up the horror elements to new heights. The original cinematic trailer for Alan Wake 2 made its debut back during The Game Awards 2021, so it would make sense for Remedy to reveal some gameplay or any kind of new footage for the game a year later.

Though a gameplay trailer of Alan Wake 2 would be great, any kind of new information or reveals wouldn’t go amiss. With Remedy also confirming that a Control 2 is in the works, and with the first Control game’s DLC establishing a link between Control and Alan Wake, Remedy are ramping up their work on their connected universe. Now feels like it’d be the perfect time for some new Alan Wake 2 information.

 

5. The Legend of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Gameplay Trailer

The woeful performance of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet might have some people worried that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s follow-up, Tears of the Kingdom, will run like a slideshow on a computer from the 80s. While Breath of the Wild’s performance was definitely decent enough, Tears of the Kingdom looks like it’s going to up the ante in a big way, which is a bit worrying for players who are still rocking launch Switch consoles.

With a release date already set for Tears Of The Kingdom, Nintendo could use The Game Awards 2022 to showcase some brand new gameplay for this highly anticipated adventure. Maybe a new gameplay trailer could do more to showcase how the sky sections will factor into the formula of Tears of the Kingdom, or even give us a look at what the story or who the villain will be.

 

6. Xbox To Show Anything

If you’ve looked at our list of the biggest new Xbox games of 2023 and beyond, you might notice that a vast majority of Xbox’s biggest exclusives are only set to launch in mid-2023 at the earliest. Worse still, most of those games don’t even have a release date at the moment. Games like Fable, Perfect Dark, Avowed, Hellblade 2 and State of Decay 3 are still miles away at this point.

Obviously, it’d be unreasonable to expect release dates for some of these games, but some new gameplay or a trailer of some kind wouldn’t go amiss. It has been rumored that Xbox would give The Game Awards a miss this year considering the issues they’re dealing with regarding their recent business acquisition plans, but some small glimpse into the future of Xbox would be fantastic. And no, I don’t just mean more Redfall or Starfield trailers.

 

7. Some Kind Of Classic Game Revival

Say what you will about Geoff Keighley, but the man certainly has a lot of time for old school games or genres that are making a comeback, and there’s no reason to believe that won’t be the case with The Game Awards 2022. Quite what that comeback would possibly be can be left to your imagination, but we’re definitely predicting that we’ll see some kind of revival this year.

If you want some actual guesses from us, maybe we’ll see more from Embracer Group regarding the various old franchises they have under their umbrella at the minute. Anything from Painkiller, TimeSplitters or Stuntman could get revealed during The Game Awards 2022. These aren’t guarantees that those three games we’ve mentioned will get revealed, but if Embracer Group doesn’t have some kind of announcement up their sleeves, we’d be shocked.

 

8. Literally Anything On Pragmata

Look, what the hell is Pragmata going to be? Will it be a shooter? A Death Stranding type game? A bullet hell shooter where you fight against the moon? Your guess is as good as ours, but with Pragmata scheduled for a vague 2023 release date, the time is nigh for Capcom to lift the lid on one of the most intriguing and vague upcoming games yet. The Game Awards is the best place to do it.

A brand new IP from Capcom, Pragmata is set on a unique lunar world in a dystopian near-future, but details have pretty much ended there. Hopefully, we’ll actually see some more information and gameplay on Pragmata soon, and this doesn’t end up being some kind of Deep Down situation.

Nah, who are we kidding? We’re getting more Exoprimal footage, and we’re going to have to like it.

 

9. Josef Fares To Steal The Show, Somehow

Admittedly, this entry was going to be about NetherRealm Studios announcing their next game, but between writing and publishing this list, Ed Boon took to Twitter to confirm that NRS aren’t ready to showcase what they’ve been working on yet. Fortunately, The Game Awards themselves handed us a bit of a gimme by announcing that Hazelight founder Josef Fares will be making an appearance.

The creator of games like A Way Out and It Takes Two, Josef Fares famously appeared during The Game Awards 2017 and had some rather choice words to say about The Oscars. Ever since that appearance, fans have always looked forward to seeing Fares make an appearance. With confirmation he’ll be there, Fares might just steal the show this year. Either he’ll announce his next game, or he’ll just say something funny again; no matter which one, it’ll be a highlight of the night.

 

10. Bloodborne HD/PC Port

Look, it’s Twitter’s white whale. The one thing that could bring happiness to millions of people, and yet Sony just refuses to make it a reality, but The Game Awards 2022 could finally be the time where Bloodborne makes a comeback. We’re basing this prediction on absolutely nothing, obviously, but it would be nice, wouldn’t it?

READ MORE: The Biggest Snubs of The Game Awards 2021