The Game Awards have concluded — congrats to Team Asobi for Astro Bot winning the Game of the Year award. Earlier this year, our review on Astro Bot described it as “one of the best games Sony has ever made,” and it appears the gaming industry and fans agree.
The lengthy stream was as always a mix of award ceremony, advertising, and game announcements.
There were numerous announcements peppered throughout the event, including brand-new games like Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet from Naughty Dog, The Witcher 4 from CD Projekt RED, and Split Fiction from Hazelight, the studio behind It Takes Two. The event also featured the revival of dormant franchises such as Okami, Onimusha, Ninja Gaiden, and Virtua Fighter.
To see all the winners, visit the Game Awards’ official site. If you missed the event, you can check out the Video Game Orchestra’s GOTY medley; fitting in Astro Bot and Balatro this year was a real highlight — praise the keytar!
Here are our top picks from the announcements, in no particular order — view all the trailers below or click a headline for the full story.
Let’s face it: few expected CD Projekt Red to reveal The Witcher 4 anytime soon, yet they did, unveiling a detailed cinematic trailer for the sequel at The Game Awards. Despite the lack of gameplay footage, series fans will be thrilled by what they see.
Naughty Dog’s latest game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, marks their shift from post-apocalyptic narratives to interstellar sci-fi adventures. Introduced via a cinematic trailer at The Game Awards, Intergalactic follows bounty hunter Jordan A. Mun, played by Tati Gabrielle of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, as she navigates the isolated planet Sempiria, evading deadly robots in her quest to escape.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree may have just been released, but FromSoftware already has a new game lined up in Elden Ring Nightreign, a standalone co-op action game, announced at The Game Awards 2024.
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio delivered a hefty surprise at The Game Awards. First, they announced that the Like A Dragon studio is spearheading a revival of the Virtua Fighter series. Furthermore, the studio is developing a Like A Dragon-style game set in the 1910s, a fitting expansion of their busy schedule given their upcoming Like A Dragon spinoff in February.
This year’s Game Awards had numerous surprises, but none were as unexpected as the announcement of a Okami sequel. Even more thrilling is that the original game’s director, Hideki Kamiya, is leading the project.
Just a few months ago, Gearbox announced Borderlands 4, the next entry in its longstanding looter shooter franchise. Once a cryptic teaser, the Game Awards now provided a full showcase of the new game.
Back in 2021, we revealed that The Outer Worlds 2 was a reality, and now over three years later, a trailer provides proof of this claim.
The Mafia series by 2K, known for its sporadic releases, will make a return in 2025. Titled Mafia: The Old Country, the game is set in early 1900s Sicily and explores the inception of organized crime. Developer Hangar 13 announced the game was in development back in 2022 but shared few details. Now, the first melodramatic trailer has premiered, featuring a monologuing patriarch, galloping horses, and operatic music. This is drama with a capital D.
From Swedish indie studio Hazelight, known for co-op games, comes another two-player game, this time featuring dual genres. Split Fiction is an adventure where players switch between sci-fi and fantasy worlds to escape a greedy publishing corporation. It supports local and online co-op and, appropriately enough, plays out in split-screen.
Absolver and Sifu put Sloclap on the map with their distinctive looks, slick combat, and solid animations. Now, the French studio is tackling a 5v5 arcade soccer game titled Rematch, set to release next summer. While it seems like an unexpected direction, Sloclap says Rematch aligns with its mission to create challenging action games with a stylized aesthetic.
Thick as Thieves is the latest project from OtherSide Entertainment, an immersive sim and stealth-action powerhouse including Deus Ex creator Warren Spector, Looking Glass Studios founder Paul Neurath, and lead of Thief: The Dark Project Greg LoPiccolo. This team, along with Doug Church and Ken Levine, is largely credited with defining the immersive sim genre.
A standout moment at The Game Awards was when Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul and voice actor Laura Bailey took the stage to introduce Dispatch. Scheduled for a 2025 release, the narrative game by AdHoc Studio, founded by ex-Telltale Games developers, boasts a strong cast including Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, Jeffrey Wright, Erin Yvette, and Jacksepticeye, blending Hollywood stars with top-tier game voice talent.
There are two exciting developments here. First, indie studio Ghost Town Games, known for the Overcooked series, is working on a new co-op title, Stage Fright, supporting both online and local play. Excitingly, Stage Fright is being published by No Man’s Sky developers Hello Games, marking their first venture into publishing other studios’ work. Stage Fright uses Overcooked-like chaotic gameplay in escape rooms set within a spooky, Luigi’s Mansion-esque universe.
Capcom announced Onimusha: Way of the Sword, the first new Onimusha title since the original 2001 PS2 game was remastered in 2019. Showcased at The Game Awards 2024, the trailer displays a modern take on the classic dark action game, abandoning the fixed perspective. This latest installment features a Samanosuke-like hero battling samurai zombies in graphic encounters, collecting golden orbs as before.
Bringing back a legendary series like Ninja Gaiden is often challenging. Most team members who worked on earlier series have likely moved on. However, the reveal of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound at The Game Awards suggests the series is in competent hands, owing to the collaboration of two experienced gaming companies.
Update, December 13, 3:00PM ET: We’ve updated the article to include a couple of additional stories that emerged after initial publication. Enjoy the Dispatch and Onimusha trailers! The headline has been revised from “13” to “15” because math is essential. Additionally, we’ve included a link to view all award winners, a nod to our Astro Bot review, and a link to the Game Awards Orchestra’s GOTY medley, just for fun.
