The Game Awards is technically an awards ceremony, but what really gets viewers to turn in is the flurry of announcements and trailers from the game’s biggest publishers and developers. This year wasn’t quite as packed with reveals as previous years, but it still had plenty to wet fans’ appetites for 2022 and beyond. Here are 5 of the most memorable moments from the 2021 Game Awards.
Star Wars Eclipse
Star Wars Visions is the first video game to be set in The High Republic, the era of Star Wars that Disney recently introducing to novels and comics. It’s being developed by Quantic Dream, a video game studio whose games tend to receive very mixed receptions. Some gamers like their style of storytelling, while others find their narratives overly heavy-handed. The studio has also been accused of an extremely toxic workplace culture, so Disney’s decision to trust the developers with one of their most valuable properties is questionable, to say that the least.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Gameplay
Microsoft revealed a sequel to Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice 2 years ago with a gorgeous cinematic trailer, making it the first title officially announced for the Xbox Series X. The company used the 2021 Game Awards to share a first look at gameplay, and it’s just as beautifully animated as the cinematic trailer. Still no release date, but the trailer suggests Xbox may finally have an action-adventure title to rival Sony favorites like God of War.
Wonder Woman from Monolith Productions
Warner Bros. Games announced something the industry has never seen before: a big-budget Wonder Woman title. According to the press release, the game will be “single player open-world action game will introduce an original story set in the DC Universe and allow players to become Diana of Themyscira in the fight to unite her Amazon family and the humans from the modern world.”
Given that Warner Bros. only shared a teaser trailer, Wonder Woman is likely still in early development. That’s a bit of a surprise, since its developer Monolith Productions hasn’t released a game since Middle-earth: Shadow of War in 2017. But the studio’s experience making Lord of the Rings titles seems like a perfect match for a Wonder Woman, so hopefully it will be worth the wait!
New Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League trailer
Warner Bros. also shared a new trailer for the next title from Rocksteady, the developer behind the Batman Arkham trilogy. The publisher showed off a trailer spotlighting high-octane, fast-moving gameplay from the upcoming Suicide Squad game and Rocksteady’s signature wit. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is (somewhat surprisingly) still on track for 2022, alongside Gotham Knights and Hogwarts Legacy, marking an extremely busy year for WB Games.
An open world Sonic game
SEGA showed off a short but memorable trailer for Sonic Frontiers at the 2021 Game Awards. The video never says outright that the title will be set in an open world, but the trailer show off a large environment and scenes clearly evoke The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, so it’s safe to assume the Sonic game will be in a similar mold. Sonic Frontiers is scheduled for Holiday 2022.
Star Trek Resurgence
Former developers from Telltale Games, the studio known for narrative-driven games like The Walking Dead and Batman: The Telltale Series, came back together to create Star Trek Resurgence. The game will presumably feature similar gameplay to past Telltale titles, where you play your way through a story in which you make choices that determine the direction and fate of your character.
The final reveal of the night was a short teaser for the already-announced Matrix Awakens experience now available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. It’s apparently pretty cool, but still, a previously-revealed glorified commercial hardly qualifies as one of the most exciting moments of the night. An anticlimactic end to the Game Awards 2021, to be sure, but it doesn’t take away from the exciting news that came before it.
