This year’s edition of The Game Awards brought more fanfare than usual, with big announcements and Elden Ring beating out God of War Ragnarok for Game of the Year.

Breaking the Mold

If Elden Ring’s Game of the Year win, as well as its unexpectedly strong sales, confirmed something, it’s that there’s room for more niche video games. More accessible or not, Elden Ring still had its roots in a series, Dark Souls, notorious for catering to the “hardcore” experience at the expense of mass appeal. Will publishers listen and start venturing further out of the box?

Players Disagree With Experts

Genshin Impact beat out all other contenders to win the Player’s Voice award, the only fan-voted honor at The Game Awards. A massively popular title with roots in mobile gaming beating out the best console and PC has to offer doesn’t happen often. It’s yet another sign of mobile gaming’s massive appeal – and untapped potential from the more established console and PC gaming industry.

PlayStation’s Big Haul

It was a big night for PlayStation, even if they were edged out for Game of the Year. God of War won in a cool six categories, while Stray took home top honors for Best Indie and Best Debut Indie.

A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor got a new gameplay trailer and March 17, 2023 release date. The sequel to EA and Respawn’s acclaimed 2019 Star Wars: Fallen Order will be worth keeping an eye on. After EA’s bungled Star War Battlefront II, Disney dropped exclusive Star Wars licensing and started working with other publishers. Aside from the immediate impact on EA’s bottom line, what will Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s performance mean for future Disney video game partnerships?

Can Diablo 4 Nail the Landing?

Blizzard officially revealed a June 6, 2023 launch date for its first mainline entry in the Diablo series since 2012. Hype aside, it comes amid troubling reports from The Washington Post of crunch and unrealistic deadlines. Fans and Activision executives may want to temper expectations.

Ken Levine's Next Chapter

Judas will be the next title from famed Bioshock creator Ken Levine. The FPS appears to feature similar psychological undercurrents and art direction to the iconic series. On the flipside, reports earlier this year seemed to imply that the game we now know as Judas had been in development hell for the better part of a decade.

Featured image courtesy of The Game Awards