The Game Awards 2022 were exciting and filled with game announcement after game announcement. The biggest and most exciting part, however, are the awards themselves. Fans eagerly await to hear the Game of the Year, or even smaller awards like Best Mobile Game or Most Anticipated Game. And while there are usually heavy hitters nominated for category after category (looking at you, God of War and Elden Ring), it might seem like a letdown if one of your favorite games is nominated for an award only to be barely mentioned in passing before losing to another game. Should this be changed? Should The Game Awards start announcing second and third place winners?

On one hand, it may lessen the excitement for certain reveals. Would we really be surprised when God of War: Raganrök got second place for Game of the Year? An announcement like that may have made the Elden Ring win less impactful. While the creators and developers would be giving their speech, fans may be preoccupied arguing that their game got second place instead of winning. For some, when it comes to rankings, ignorance is bliss. 

I think it would be fun though. Like, yeah, there’s a solid chance The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will win 2023’s Game of the Year award, as well as a handful of others. However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any other great games that come out in 2023. It would be interesting to see which game, aside from the one that’s been highly anticipated for six years, turns out to be the best of the year.

Maybe only certain categories should have a second- and third-place rankings, like the smaller awards that can shine the light on games that may only have one or two nominations. Or maybe we should save rankings like these for the really big awards like Game of the Year. What are your thoughts? Let us know below in a comment, or join the Boss Rush Discord and let us know what your second and third place games would be for some of these most recent Game Awards categories.

Featured Image: Santa Monica Studios