Did you miss the fun and razzmatazz of The Game Awards 2021? Here’s a quick recap of the trailers and world premieres revealed at this year’s show.
Everybody’s favourite gaming grandpa, Geoff Keighley, returned to the stage last night to host The Game Awards 2021.
The ceremony was broadcast live from Los Angeles, where a packed – and thankfully masked – audience cheered and whooped to another three-hour onslaught of game trailers.
Highlights included a striking gameplay debut for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II and the surprise reveal of an Alan Wake sequel. Sonic Frontiers also made its bow with a beautiful Zelda-evoking trailer.
Pre-show treats included a new trailer for sci-fi adventure Planet of Lana, a March release date for Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, and new footage from Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.
Here’s a quick recap of the big announcements from The Game Awards 2021.
The Game Awards 2021 Announcements
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II – First gameplay footage of Ninja Theory’s visually impressive sequel to Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. It’s coming to Xbox Game Pass, but no release date was announced.
- Star Wars: Eclipse – Another visually spectacular trailer, this time for a new Star Wars game set during the High Republic era. Alas, it’s from Quantic Dream, which makes a mockery of Geoff’s opening appeal for an end to abuse in the workplace.
- Wonder Woman – A teaser trailer for Wonder Woman, who is getting a long-overdue AAA treatment from Monolith and Warner Bros.
- Alan Wake II – A spooky trailer for Alan Wake II, now in development at Remedy Entertainment. Sam Lake pitches it as a survival horror experience rather than an action-adventure. It’s due for release in 2023.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – A bit of a blur.
- Horizon Forbidden West – A fresh look at gameplay from Guerrilla’s highly anticipated PlayStation game.
- Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade – Leak confirmed. The PC edition of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade will be released on December 16, 2021
- Destiny: The Witch Queen – A first look at Bungie’s upcoming “take back the light” expansion for Destiny 2. It’s due on February 2, 2022.
- Slitterhead – A new action horror game from Keiichiro Toyama’s Bokeh Studios. Be careful how you say it.
- Nightingale – Quirky monsters, dimensional portals, and habitat building come together in this new survival crafting game from Inflexion Games.
- Somerville – Another look at Jumpship’s striking sci-fi adventure. It lands on PC and Xbox in 2022.
- Cuphead – The Delicious Last Course DLC for MDHR’s Cuphead is incoming.
- Sonic Frontiers – The latest 3D Sonic game channels The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and races onto consoles and PC in late 2022.
- Nightmare Alley – The trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s latest movie receives an apologetic introduction from Geoff’s absentee friend, Hideo Kojima.
- Tchia – A new trailer for Awaceb’s sun-kissed “soul-jumping” open-world adventure.
- Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – A suitably chaotic gameplay reveal for Rocksteady’s upcoming open-world actioner. It’s not Batman: Arkham Asylum, that’s for sure. Coming to PC. PS5, and Xbox Series X|S next year.
- Forspoken – Another showing for Luminous Productions’ intriguing – but generic – action RPG. It’s out in May 2022.
- Warhammer 40,000 – Space Marine 2 – Saber Interactive is developing this much-desired Space Marine sequel.
- Saints Row – A trip to Santo Ileso beacons in Volition’s franchise revamp. Gameplay footage suggests more of the same, with a little more gloss. That’s no bad thing, and it’s coming to PC and console on August 23, 2022.
- Dune Spice Wars – Shiro Games is making a 4X strategy game based on the boring book.
- Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands – I was making a cup of tea while this story trailer was showing. Sounded gnarly.
- Among Us VR – A teaser for a surprising new version of Innersloth’s hit imposter game.
- Genshin Impact – New characters are on the way to miHoYo’s smash hit action RPG.
- Star Trek Resurgence – Boldly go and play this new narrative-focused Star Trek adventure from Dramatic Labs, a new studio founded by former Telltale developers.
- Rumbleverse – Knockabout fun from Iron Galaxy and Epic Games.
- A Plague Tale: Requiem – New footage and story details for Asobo Studio’s upcoming sequel.
- Dying Light 2 – Another new story trailer, this time for Techland’s long in development open-world zombie parkour extravaganza. Coming February 2022.
- Crossfire – More gameplay from the tactical shooter developed by Remedy and Smilegate. I returned to my tea during this one.
- GTFO – Surprise! The 1.0 version of co-op horror shooter GTFO is now available to buy on Steam.
- Halo: The Series – The first look trailer for the live-action Halo TV series coming to Paramount+ in 2022.
- Elden Ring – Another trailer for FromSoftware’s collaboration with George R.R. Martin. It’s out on PC and console on February 25, 2022.
- Arc Raiders – The visually resplendent free-to-play coop shooter from Embark Studios gets a jaunty new showcase.
Last but not least, here’s the full list of winners from The Game Awards 2021.
OK, that’s it. Until next year, folks.
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