NewsBits - The Game Awards 2022 Edition

As far as awards shows go, this certainly was one of the awards show of all time.

It was a night like none other. A night that opened with Steam user Milf Hunter winning a free Steam Deck from Valve. It was a night with an acceptance speech that went on for over eight minutes while a haggard looking Al Pacino stood by. It was a night that included a weird joke about murder statistics. It was also a night that ended with someone with possible ties to right-wing media saying something on mic that may have been an anti-Semitic dog whistle.

If you watched the show, especially through Steam, then you know I'm not making any of this up.

We already talked about last night's big winners. This one here is to talk about the new trailers that were shown off for games we knew about and some we didn't.

To kick things off, the bit about Milf Hunter winning a Steam Deck is very real. As you probably know, Valve was giving away a free Steam Deck every minute that The Game Awards aired. Valve announced each winner (or at least attempted to when their system wasn't bottlenecked) at the top of the chat window. That was a hell of a risky move, but it seems as though the worst name that popped up last night started and ended with Milf Hunter. Congratulations on your new Steam Deck, Milf Hunter.

The first major award of the show was for best performance and that went to Christopher Judge for his portrayal of Kratos in God of War: Ragnarök. Though he only spoke for about eight minutes, it felt like it went on for far longer. Still, Judge spoke from the heart throughout with a speech that included some very personal stories.

Following Judge's speech, the rest of the show largely went off without much of a hitch. A number of new and exciting games were shown off. Then the finale came where Elden Ring won for Game of the Year. Lead game director Hidetaka Miyazaki walked up onto the stage with some of his team and gave an acceptance speech. As soon as Miyazaki finished, another person with wild hair and a freshly bought pair of Yeezys went up to the microphone to say, "Hey my turn, I just want to thank everybody and say I want to nominate this award to my reformed orthodox rabbi Bill Clinton, thanks everybody."

It resulted in a collective "what just happened" from viewers at home and in the audience. That person clearly wasn't a part of Miyazaki's team at FromSoftware. Several keen eyed viewers noticed that this individual came from several rows back as Miyazaki and his team got up from their seats to take to the stage.

While the ensuing onslaught of memes that hit social media immediately following the incident were rather amusing, the event itself should be raising a lot of alarms. First, the fact that security did not stop this person from getting up on stage in the first place should be extremely concerning. Let's face it, there are a lot of unhinged people out there. Then you factor in the fact that so many game developers are the targets of mass harassment, doxxing, and threats of extreme violence and you really have to wonder how this was allowed to happen.

The bizarre statement that the individual said also seems to be cause for alarm for some. It is believed by many that calling former president Bill Clinton a "reformed orthodox rabbi" is a coded anti-Semitic dog whistle. There is a belief among anti-Semites that Jewish people control the world. It's a well documented anti-Semitic conspiracy that spans back several centuries. Finally, there is an ~~unverified~~ claim that the person who took the stage also appeared on InfoWars recently (Edit: This has since been verified, and the reason for his appearance is not as nefarious as you think). InfoWars being a far-right conspiracy theory filled website and show hosted by Sandy Hook denier Alex Jones. This information is muddied a slight bit and I honestly do not care to investigate into anything InfoWars related beyond a purely surface level due to my low tolerance for bullshit. I also don't want my YouTube recommendations filled with related garbage.

Quick update to share: The identity of the intruder has been revealed. Jason Schreier says that he conducted an interview with the person. The 15-year old is described by Schreier as just "a Jewish prankster" and doesn't believe that the speech given was an anti-Semitic dog whistle. I'm not going to put his name because giving them even more attention seems rather dumb. And now back to the original post content.

Following the end of the show, Geoff Keighley did tweet out that "the individual who interrupted our Game of the Year moment has been arrested." While the memes and such were all fun and games, it's perhaps best not to idolize that person who snuck on stage. Instead, let us give our love and praise to "flute guy." He is Pedro Eustache and is a world-renowned flautist, reed player, and woodwind player, composer, and instrument maker.

And now, on to all of those new game trailers and announcements. I apologize in advance if any of these trailers are age-gated by YouTube.

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC is coming in Q1 2023.

Vampire Survivors now on mobile devices.

Valiant Hearts: Coming Home mobile game is coming soon.

Returnal hits PC soon.

Death Stranding 2 was announced.

Hellboy: Web of Wyrd coming to consoles and PC.

Hades II announced.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's first trailer reveals March 17, 2023 release date.

Horizon Call of the Mountain for PlayStation VR2 gets a new trailer.

Post Trauma is a new horror game from Raw Fury coming soon to consoles and PC.

Destiny 2: Lightfall new gameplay trailer.

Viewfinder is an upcoming PlayStation exclusive puzzle game.

Among Us has a new Hide N Seek mode.

Street Fighter 6 shows off new characters and June 2nd release date.

After Us arrives Spring 2023 for next-gen consoles and PC.

Replaced and its pixel art style coming to Xbox, Game Pass, and PC.

Transformers: Reactivate announced.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has a new gameplay trailer.

Judas announced for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC from BioShock creator Ken Levine.

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is a prequel coming March 17, 2023 to Switch.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League features Kevin Conroy's last performance as Batman.

Earthblade is the latest from the Celeste devs and due out in 2024.

Dune: Awakening is an open-world survival MMO.

Fire Emblem Engage is coming January 20 for Nintendo Switch.

Immortals of Aevum announced and coming in 2023.

Tekken 8 is still a fighting game.

Nightingale is an upcoming open-world survival game.

Baldur's Gate 3 to leave Early Access in August 2023 for PC.

Wayfinder is an MMO coming to PlayStation and PC.

Diablo 4 releases June 6, 2023 for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

Blue Protocol is coming late in 2023 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Horizon Forbidden West - Burning Shores DLC takes Aloy to Los Angels on April 19, 2023.

Atomic Heart new gameplay trailer.

Remnant 2 announced for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Crash Team Rumble is a team-based multiplayer game coming in 2023 for PlayStation and Xbox.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie had a new trailer. Chris Pratt still sucks.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden announced for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC from the team behind Vampyr.

Meet Your Maker trailer shows off base building and base attacking. It will be out April 4, 2023 for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

The Lords of the Fallen has a new cinematic trailer.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to get its first raid on December 14.

Crime Boss: Rockay City is an upcoming heist game. The cast includes Michael Rooker, Chuck Norris, Michael Madson, Kim Basinger, Danny Glover, Danny Trejo, and more.