The Game Awards 2022 is just around the corner, and we’re ready to settle down with a warm glass of Mountain Dew and put out milk and cookies for Santa Geoff as he gets ready to drop a bag of trailers down our chimneys. It may seem like slim pickings for Nintendo this year, but the Switch isn’t doing too badly — and Nintendo is still the second-most-nominated publisher, behind Sony Interactive Entertainment and tied with Annapurna Interactive.
But if you’re wondering how to watch The Game Awards, exactly when it is, or how long it’ll run for, we’ve got you covered.
When is The Game Awards 2022?
The Game Awards will take place on Thursday, December 8th (the 9th for anyone east of the Americas), live from the Microsoft Theater in LA, at 5pm Pacific. There will be a 30-minute pre-show, at which we expect some of the smaller awards will be shuffled out the door.
Here are the local times in several time zones:
North America (December 8th)
5pm PST
6pm MST
7pm CST
8pm EST
9pm AST
Europe (December 9th)
1am GMT
2am CET
3am EET
Asia & Oceania (December 9th)
6:30am IST
9am CST
9am AWST
10am JST
12pm AEDT
2pm NZDT
Where can I watch The Game Awards 2022?
The Game Awards will be streamed on YouTube and Twitchboth of which can be used natively on the Switch now, if you fancy. You can also watch direct feeds of the streams on the following sites:
This year, The Game Awards has opened applications for people to co-stream the event on their Twitch channels, as well. Keighley has confirmed that everything is already cleared for streaming!
The Game Awards will also be shown live in 40 IMAX cinemas across North America — check here to find out if you have one near you.
How long will The Game Awards 2022 be?
We actually know the answer to this, for once… and the reason is a bit unusual!
Valve is giving away one Steam Deck for every minute of The Game Awards, and they’ve confirmed exactly how many minutes that will be. In the terms and conditions of the competitionthey state that the runtime is “approximately two and a half hours”. That’s 150 Steam Decks!
(Note: The competition is only running in the US, Canada, the UK, and the EU, and only for people who have made at least one purchase in the last year on Steam.)
Which games have been nominated for The Game Awards 2022?
You can check out the list here for all the nominees.
But specifically for the Switch and Nintendo, the following games are nominated:
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Game of the Year, Best Score/Music, Best RPG)
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (Best Action/Adventure Game, Best Score/Music, Best Performance – Charlotte McBurney)
- Citizen Sleeper (Games for Impact)
- A Memoir Blue (Games for Impact)
- Endling: Extinction is Forever (Games for Impact)
- Hindsight (Games for Impact)
- I Was A Teenage Exocolonist (Games for Impact)
- Fortnite (Best Ongoing Game, Best Community Support)
- Apex Legends (Best Ongoing Game, Best Community Support)
- Tunic (Best Independent Game, Best Action/Adventure Game, Best Debut Indie)
- Cult of the Lamb (Best Independent Game)
- Neon White (Best Independent Game, Best Action Game, Best Debut Indie)
- Sifu (Best Independent Game, Best Action, Best Fighting Game)
- No Man’s Sky (Best Community Support)
- Return to Monkey Island (Innovation in Accessibility)
- Bayonetta 3 (Best Action Game)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Best Action Game)
- Live A Live (Best RPG)
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Best RPG)
- Triangle Strategy (Best RPG)
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R (Best Fighting Game)
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Best Family Game)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Best Family Game)
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Best Family Game, Best Sim/Strategy Game)
- Nintendo Switch Sports (Best Family Game)
- Splatoon 3 (Best Family Game)
- OlliOlli World (Best Sports/Racing Game)
- Two Point Campus (Best Sim/Strategy Game)
- Rocket League (Best eSports Game)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Most Anticipated Game)
Which games will be shown or announced at The Game Awards 2022?
We have no idea! Unfortunately, Keighley hasn’t replied to any of our phone calls, probably because we don’t have his phone number anyway. But here’s what’s been confirmed so far:
Not a lot of Switch or Nintendo news, then. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be any…
…in fact, we think all of Geoff’s tweets about the Super Mario Bros. Movie might be a clue 👀
Who is performing at The Game Awards 2022?
Hozier, baby. The soft-voiced Irish musician will be performing “Blood Upon The Snow” from God of War: Ragnarok.
How does voting work for The Game Awards?
You can vote for your favourites in each category! The final winners will be decided by a “blended vote”: 90% determined by the voting jury, and 10% determined by public fan voting.
There is a 100% fan-chosen vote, too, called Players’ Voice, which began on November 28th and will conclude on December 7th, with three rounds of voting. You can place your vote here. Hey, Sonic Frontiers is on there! And, uh, Minecraft!
Voting closes on Wednesday, December 7 at 6 pm PT. You can check out the jury here — it is largely made up of outlets like The Guardian, Eurogamer, and so on, as well as independent but highly-regarded names like Jeff Gerstmann. The Innovation in Accessibility award in particular is judged by accessibility advocates and experts.
Will you be watching The Game Awards? What games would you like to win? Is it at a ridiculous time where you are? Let us know in the comments!
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