The 29 biggest announcements from The Game Awards 2021

Hosted by Geoff Keighley, The Game Awards is most-hyped not for its awards, but for stuffing its show with world premieres. That hasn’t changed. On Thursday evening’s broadcast, more than half of the three-hour show consisted of new game announcements — everything from game updates and release dates to reveals of big games coming well into the future.

Still, awards are a big part of the event, too, which was streamed live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The top prize — game of the year — out of The Game Awards’ 30 categories went to Hazelight Studios’ It Takes Two.

Missed the show? Here’s the biggest news coming out of the Game Awards.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Oh! That’s a surprise. Amanda Waller showed up at The Game Awards to show some “classified” new footage from Rocksteady Games’ Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. It looks chaotic, and quite good. Kill the Justice League is slated for a 2022 release date.

Star Wars Eclipse

Detroit: Become Human developer Quantic Dream is working on a new Star Wars game, Star Wars Eclipse, in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games. Set in the High Republic, Star Wars Eclipse will feature multiple playable characters and a branching story. This one’s still in early development, so it might be a while until it’s out.

Wonder Woman

A Wonder Woman game — called Wonder Woman, naturally — is coming from the Middle-earth: Shadow of War developer Monolith Productions. The short teaser showed little about the game, aside from a dramatic closeup of the leading lady herself.

Alan Wake 2

Alan Wake 2 is coming in 2023, and the trailer terrified us all with a major jump scare. It’s been 10 years since the last Alan Wake game, which was an action game; Alan Wake 2 will be Remedy’s first a survival horror game.

Forspoken

Forspoken continues to look pretty incredible — plus it now has a release date: May 24, 2022. A new trailer, with lots of explosions, was shown during The Game Awards.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Who would have guessed that Leatherface would show up during The Game Awards? The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, from the creators of Friday the 13th: The Game, was revealed during the event’s pre-show, with a short teaser trailer.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2

Ninja Theory’s Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 got an impressive cinematic gameplay trailer during The Game Awards. The game looks both gorgeous and grotesque.

Halo, the TV show

Of course, the new Paramount Plus TV show Halo got a first look trailer at The Game Awards. Halo stars Pablo Schreiber (American Gods) as Master Chief, Natascha McElhone (Californication) as Dr. Halsey, and longtime voice Jen Taylor as Cortana.

Elden Ring

A pot with legs — and arms! — delivered a new lore trailer for Elden Ring to the Game Awards stage.

Sonic Frontiers

Sega announced Sonic Frontiers, the “first-ever open-zone-inspired” game in the franchise. First teased in May, Sonic Team’s new game is expected out in late 2022 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

Slitterhead

There was a spider with a horrifying human face shown during The Game Awards, thanks to Bohek Game Studios’ Slitterhead.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum

A stealth-action game from Daedalic Entertainment and NACON, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is slated for release in 2022. The game finally lets players enter the Lord of the Rings world as both Gollum and Sméagol.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Will Arnett and Ashley Burch were on stage at the event to show a new story trailer for Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. It’s coming March 25, 2022.

Among Us

Among Us is getting a virtual reality version, as shown in a very brief clip teasing the mode.

Star Trek: Resurgence

Star Trek: Resurgence is “third-person choice-driven” game set in the Star Trek universe, coming in 2022 from Dramatic Labs, a studio made up of Telltale Games veterans.

ARC Raiders

From Embark Studios, a studio founded by former DICE and Battlefield developers, Arc Raiders is a player-vs-environment shooter coming in 2022.

New “creator-safe” music from Riot Games

Riot Games announced Sessions: Diana, an album of copyright-free music that streamers and content creators can use without getting DMCAed.

The Matrix Resurrections + Awakens

Yes, Keanu Reeves did appear at The Game Awards on Thursday, and yes, he brought along a trailer for The Matrix Resurrections. Plus, a look at The Matrix Awakens, an interactive experience set in The Matrix’s world.

Rumbleverse

A colorful pro wrestling battle royale game, called Rumbleverse, is coming to consoles next year. It’s coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC via the Epic Games Store, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Honestly, it looks fun.

The Expanse: A Telltale Series

Amazon Prime series The Expanse is getting a video game: The Expanse: A Telltale Series. It’ll be developed by Telltale Games with Life is Strange: True Colors studio Deck Nine.

Tunic

Super-cute Zelda-like Tunic will be released March 16 on Mac, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

Homeworld 3

Blackbird Interactive revealed a first look at gameplay details for Homeworld 3 during The Game Awards, a follow-up to Homeworld and Homeworld 2, taking players into open space.

CrossfireX

Looks like CrossfireX finally has a release date: Feb. 10, 2022.

Nightingale

From Improbable’s Edmonton studio — now called Inflexion Games — comes Nightingale, a survival game set in a fantasy Victorian era. Again with the scary monsters with monstrous human faces in a “shared world.” Nightingale launches in early access on Windows PC next year.

PUBG Battlegrounds

You no longer have to pay for PUBG Battlegrounds! Yep, the original battle royale is now free-to-play.

Cuphead

Cuphead’s getting new DLC, called The Delicious Last Course, revealed through a lovely little song performed live at The Game Awards. The DLC — get it? — launches June 30, 2022.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Ben Schwartz was on hand at The Game Awards to introduce Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s new movie trailer. Uh oh, it looks like Dr. Robotnik found the source of ultimate power. Thankfully, Tails and Knuckles are there, too.

Thirsty Suitors

Indie publisher Annapurna Games will release Outerloop Games’ next title, Thirsty Suitors, and tackle relationships and family dynamics. Frankly, it looks incredible — there’s fighting, skateboards, and cooking, among much, more more.

Dune: Spice Wars

French studio Shiro Games announced Dune: Spice Wars, a real-time strategy game with 4X elements — meaning explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate.