The Game Awards 2023: six of the best bits

A theatre packed with games industry luminaries. Reveal trailers for exciting projects from the likes of Hideo Kojima. A rare chance to witness games journalists in tuxedos. This year’s Game Awards had it all, by which we mean several hours of trailers and clapping which we’ve cherry-picked only the good bits from.

OD - Hideo Kojima’s next project

A big reveal from the Metal Gear Solid creator and Mr enigmatic reveal trailer himself, Hideo Kojima. What do we know about OD based on this minute and a half of faces reciting the same sentence? We know that while some people find it terrifying that a hungry purple dinosaur would eat a kind fox, others are apparently angry or nonplussed.

We know that there’s something funny going on in the reflections of the actors’ eyes - prismatic patterns which MGS superfans will no doubt already be studying in microscopic detail in case there’s a release date in there.

And we know that there’s some really, truly impressive facial animation tech powering OD. The micro-expressions you see in this trailer feel like a bit of a landmark moment. The next LA Noire. Kojima’s working with Jordan Peele on this one, so it makes sense that capturing great acting in detail should be such a point of emphasis.

Exodus - a new sci-fi game starring Matthew McConnaughey

Alright alright and, indeed, alright. Space. The future, presumably. A martian-like planetary surface where storms light up the sky. A woman finds a glowing orb that contains the key to taking down a powerful enemy called The Celestials, who look pretty clever, based on both their names and pulsating temples.

There’s a love story going on here too - one that bears a surface-level resemblance to Interstellar’s time-warping heartaches. So it makes sense that Mr McConnaughey apparently stars in this one.

Marvel’s Blade - from Deathloop studio Arkane Lyon

Arkane’s made some of the best immersive sims (read: games that give you free rein to achieve your objectives however you like) of the last decade, including Deathloop and the Dishonored series. So however you feel about the Marvel universe, this is very likely to be absolutely excellent.

The reveal trailer doesn’t tell us much beyond the game’s existence - Blade is getting a beard trim at the barber. We see a razor blade inch along his neck, very clever. Then we’re left to imagine what Arkane Lyon has in store for us. Dishonored was built on a foundation of strong melee combat and supernatural abilities, so it feels like a great pairing of IP and studio.

Light No Fire -  Hello Games does fantasy

Would you like to hear a funny joke about Light No Fire, the upcoming fantastical open-world game with dragons and stuff from No Man’s Sky developer Hello Games? Here it is: No Man’s Skyrim.

Thank you, thank you, try the veal. Now prepare to see that joke in absolutely all coverage of this game from now until well after its release. You will become more familiar with that joke than with your life partner’s face.

Anyway - lots of beautiful environmental variation on show here, not to mention flying around on a dragon and massive metallic golems. No Man’s Sky had a rocky start, but Hello Games turned it into a thing of wonder so it’s a genuine thrill to imagine what they can achieve with this setting.

The Great Gonzo presenting the Best Indie Debut award

It wasn’t all trailers, you know. The Game Awards are about getting a wider audience to pay attention to all the great things happening in gaming, and to gain some richly deserved plaudits for the creators who work incredibly hard to make our virtual playthings come to life. As such there’s a necessary degree of glamour and glitz to proceedings.

And that was typified by an appearance from Gonzo the Muppet himself, riffing with host Geoff Keighley, chasing a chicken, and reminding us all that games have made it. This is the big time, folks.

This incredible medley from The Game Awards Orchestra

When we hear ‘medley’ our minds usually go to dark places. The hazy final hour of a wedding, one Abba song crashing into the next while men with ties around their foreheads attempt to floss.

This… isn’t that. The Game Awards Orchestra’s majestic arrangement takes you on a journey through the soundtracks of 2023’s best games, segueing from Tears of the Kingdom to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and erasing many traumatic memories of the Grease megamix as they do so.

Oh, and they handed out some awards, too.