Three different Game of the Year winners are releasing their successors come next year, meaning that 2022 will be an all-out battle royale frenzy for that shiny golden award. There's Elden Ring, God of War: Ragnarok, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2.
The former isn't a direct sequel as the other two are, but it's the next in FromSoftware's Soulsborne catalog, continuing what the studio started with Demon's Souls in a spiritual manner. Already, comparisons galore are cropping up, calling it Dark Souls 4 with horse riding.
Meanwhile, Breath of the Wild 2 got a brand new trailer at Nintendo's E3 Direct yesterday, showing off the next entry in its Zelda line-up. Well, new entry. There is Skyward Sword's port coming to the Nintendo Switch shortly. Finally, God of War 2, the not-yet-confirmed-but-definitely-called-Ragnarok sequel that there is next-to-no information on as of now, is also underway. All three are slated to release in 2022.
Next year will be kickstarted by George R. R. Martin and Hidetaka Miyazaki's Elden Ring as it launches on January 21, while the other two titles have a vague 2022 attached. Hopefully, that sticks, but working under quarantine could have untold effects on development that result in delays.
As it stands, the three previous GOTY winners are all set to receive their follow-ups in the same year. Breath of the Wild won 2017, God of War won 2018, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice won 2019. Meanwhile, last year was The Last of Us Part 2's time to shine, and next year, a remake of the first game is reportedly set to launch.
It's an award-winning line-up where nobody but the players are winning in 2022. The question is which one you're most anticipated for. It's interesting to note that all three are RPGs. It's certainly been a good few years for the genre if The Game Awards are anything to go by.