The Game Awards, which will be held on Dec. 8 in Los Angeles, will honor the best in esports for 2022.
The awards will be given out in five categories: Best Esports Game, Best Esports Athlete, Best Esports Team, Best Esports Coach, and Best Esports Event.
Want to know more about the nominees and what they have done? Here’s a breakdown of their qualifications.
Best Esports Game
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Dota 2
- League of Legends
- Rocket League
- VALORANT
It’s hard to say one game stood out over the others, as all of these games have provided great moments and competitive experiences for players in the past year. CS:GO, and League of Legends are two of the most popular esports, have all been around for over a decade, and seem to top themselves each year with better events, and 2022 was no different.
Rocket League and VALORANT are new games that rose to prominence this year. Both titles offer double-elimination tournaments, which esports communities have used as a way to foster inclusivity and diversity.
VALORANT has made a special effort to provide opportunities for women, LGBTQ people, and other marginalized groups in competitive play via the VCT Game Changers program.
Dota 2 is known for its large prize pool at The International, the season-ending event that has been held annually since 2011. This year’s $18.9 million prize pool did not top the amount from last year ($40 million in 2021). It was still – by far – the biggest prize pot in esports this year.
Best Esports Athlete
- Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (Gen.G, LoL)
- Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (T1, LoL)
- Finn “karrigan” Andersen (FaZe Clan, CS:GO)
- Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
- Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9, Valorant)
In this section, you’ll find a mix of some of the most famous League of Legends players and some rising stars. Faker is considered the GOAT in League of Legends, and karrigan and s1mple are legends in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Chovy and yay are two players who are known for their mechanical skills and who are both rising stars.
In terms of individual performances, Chovy had the better year. Faker also reached two international finals as the leader of an inexperienced squad, but S1mple brought more success to his team as the winner of the Antwerp Major.
Yay also was an international champion in VALORANT as the winner of Masters: Reykjavík and will likely emerge as a worthy winner here.
Best Esports Team
- DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)
- FaZe Clan (CS:GO)
- Gen.G (League of Legends)
- LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
- LOUD (Valorant)
Gen.G were not world champions this year, but they won the regional championships in League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The other four teams on this list are probably more deserving than the South Korean team.
There is no World Championship of League of Legends, but Majors are equivalent to a World Cup, and FaZe won at the Antwerp Major.
FaZe won the IEM Katowice tournament, one of the most prestigious international events not held during a Major. LOUD won VALORANT’s championship and was second at another international tournament, Masters: Reykjavík. The LA Thieves also won a COD Major in addition to their victory in COD Champs.
DarkZero won the ALGS Championship, and the same roster (playing as Reignite) also won the only other Apex global LAN, ALGS Split 2 Playoffs.
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Best Esports Coach
- Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)
- Matheus ‘bzkA’ Tarasconi (LOUD, VALORANT)
- Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (FPX, VALORANT)
- Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström (FaZe Clan, CS:GO)
- Go “Score” Dong-bin (Gen.G, LoL)
The coaches B1ad3 and d00mbr0s each deserve recognition for different reasons. Both helped their teams win international titles despite the multitude of issues that the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused for their mixed Ukrainian/Russian rosters.
BzkA is the only world champion on this list. He was the coach of VALORANT team Loud, who won the world championship in Atlanta earlier this year—the closest CS:GO equivalent to a world championship. RobbaN coached FaZe through their win at the Antwerp Major, the closest CS:GO equivalent to a world championship. Score is the coach of Gen.G, who was champion this summer in Korea’s LCK.
Best Esports Event
- Evo 2022
- 2022 League of Legends World Championship
- PGL Major Antwerp 2022
- 2022 Mid-Season Invitational
- VALORANT Champions 2022
The League of Legends World Championship is one of the biggest and most watched esports tournaments in the world. This year’s event was no different, with a record number of viewers watching live and an audience that reached 5 million during peak hours, according to Esports Charts.
The League of Legends World Championships were held in Mexico City, New York, Atlanta, and San Francisco in October and November. They went off without a hitch with very high production quality.
The Mid-Season Invitational was a great tournament, but it doesn’t compare to the scale of The International. Champions and Antwerp also deserve consideration.
Champions were one of the most watched CS:GO Majors with over 2 million peak viewers and Antwerp was the most watched VALORANT tournament with a peak of 1.5 million – plus it was the first Champions tournament with fans in attendance.
Evo deserves a shoutout as the biggest annual fighting game community tournament. Like Worlds 2022, Evo 2022 was the first full-scale Evo since before the pandemic started, and it was an amazing event with some great storylines.
The event featured thousands of participants across nine different games, several side tournaments, and a showcase for MultiVersus.
About The Game Awards 2022
The Game Awards 2022 will be an upcoming award show that honors the best video games of 2022. Hosted by Geoff Keighley, creator, and producer of The Game Awards, it will be held to an invited audience at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on December 8, 2022. The preshow ceremony will be hosted by Sydnee Goodman, who will also direct the event.
The show will be streamed across more than 40 digital platforms alongside an additional IMAX experience. A new Best Adaptation award has been added to this year’s show at the Game Awards, which is presented by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS).
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