The Game Awards 2022has come and gone, and while the awards show was certainly eventful this year with some moments that are likely to live in infamy, the reveals and game announcements continue to be the show’s greatest asset. This year’s ceremony was arguably one of the best in this regard, with major AAA game announcements such asDeath Stranding 2,Judas, andthe upcomingCrash Bandicootmultiplayer gameCrash Team Rumble, and even some major indie reveals likeHades 2,Earthblade, andHellboy: Web of Wyrd.
WhileThe Game Awards' presentations and reveals were full of surprises this year, with major publishers such as Sony, Square Enix, Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, and Capcom all showcasing upcoming titles, there were some noticeable absences from the show that leave a lot of mystery heading into 2023. Here are five games that were suspiciously missing from The Game Awards 2022.
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Alan Wake 2
Announced at last year’s showcase by Remedy Entertainment CEO Sam Lake,Alan Wake 2’s absence is especially strange considering that the game was supposed to reveal more information this past summer. Coming over a decade on from the Xbox 360 original,which was remastered as a multiplatform title in 2021, many fans still don’t know what to expect fromAlan Wake 2since it was mentioned to be Remedy Entertainment’s first survival horror title.
Back in May, Remedy revealed that the studio haddecided to delay revealing more information on the gameto avoid taking time away from development, likely so it could hit its slated 2023 release window. At the time, this felt like soft confirmation that the game would once again appear at The Game Awards, where it was initially revealed last year. Instead, fans still know just as much aboutAlan Wake 2in December 2022 as they did in December 2021, which raises some concern regarding its release in 2023. Hopefully Remedy has some details to share soon.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Given that its sequel was delayed past a decade of the original film’s release,delays are almost an expected tradition of James Cameron’sAvatarfranchise. Such is the case for Ubisoft’s upcoming open-worldAvatargame,Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, although with the second film preparing for release, and The Game Awards' continued obsession with combining the film and video game industries, it feels somewhat strange that there was no appearance from the game at this year’s ceremony.
Whileit’s not yet known ifFrontiers of Pandorawill release in either 2023 or 2024(the latter date lining it up closer to the release ofAvatar 3thanAvatar: Way of the Water), the impending release of the second movie, which is likely to be one of the biggest pop culture events in years, feels like a missed opportunity to capitalize on excitement fans of Cameron’s 2009 movie might have for the rapidly developing future of the franchise. As of right now, it’s not yet known when Ubisoft will showAvatar: Frontiers of Pandoraagain, as the game was last showcased in June 2021.
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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
As winner of The Game Awards' Most Anticipated Game category, as well as a surprising presence from Nintendo with reveals such asBayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon,Fire Emblem Engage’s season pass, and a clip fromThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, it feels downright bizarre that there was no appearance forThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the company’sbiggest known 2023 release with a cemented release date of May 12th.
Given The Game Award’s history with revealing gameplay forThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildin 2014, a formal trailer revealed in 2016, and its multiple wins including Game of the Year in 2017, it feels like The Game Awards would have been an important event for Nintendo to want to reveal more regarding its impending sequel. WhilemoreTears of the Kingdominformationis likely not too far off considering the release date, this feels like somewhat of a missed opportunity to uphold a fun tradition.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Given thelack of a traditional PlayStation Showcase event this year, it was surprising to see Sony participate in The Game Awards this year, not only to accept the many, many awards forGod of War: Ragnarok, but also to announce that bothThe Last of Us Part 1andReturnalwill be coming to PC and finally revealDeath Stranding 2. There was a major elephant in the room regarding this appearance, however, as Sony currently has one major traditional PlayStation Studios title revealed for 2023 that was nowhere to be seen throughout The Game Awards:Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Just recently,Insomniac reconfirmed thatMarvel’s Spider-Man 2is slated for release in 2023, but the studio has not released any new trailers or information since the game’s reveal in September 2021, leaving some fans understandably skeptical. Furthermore, the lack of a PlayStation Studios-focused event this year has left many PS5 owners unsure of what to expect from first-party developers in 2023, even outside the confirmed PlayStation VR2 line-up and promised multiplayer games from studios like Naughty Dog. Even seeing a teaser forSpider-Man 2would have been enough to reassure fans that 2023 will still be a great year for first-party titles, and while that’s certainly still possible, there is some confusion as to what Sony is planning for year three of the PS5’s lifecycle.
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Starfield
Above all other absences felt at The Game Awards 2022, none were more distracting thanthe lack of any new reveals from Xbox Game Studiosor its current subsidiaries. While newly announced titles would have also been exciting, the lack of anyStarfieldgameplay reveals or footage following its major delay from November 11th 2022 to Q1/Q2 2023 set The Game Awards up as the perfect stage to excite fans for Bethesda Games Studios' upcoming sci-fi open-world RPG. Unfortunately,Starfieldwas nowhere to be seen, nor was Bethesda Softworks' other upcoming Xbox exclusive,Redfall.
This, combined from a lack of major exclusive output from Microsoft in 2022 outside smaller budget projects likeGrounded,Pentiment, andAs Dusk Falls, is seemingly set to end the year on a disappointing note for those excited for the company’s 2023 slate, despitepromises that it will be one of the most exciting years in the first-party Xbox history. Considering thatStarfieldwas a perfect game forThe Game Awards' stage with its majorly ambitious scope and presentation, its absence ended up being one of the show’s biggest bummers.
