Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards returns for its annual games celebration on December 8. Each category and its nominated contestants have been announced, and voting has commenced. There are an abundant 31 categories that branch into granular elements of the games industry, from The Game Awards’ Game of the Year, Best Debut Indie, Best Esports Coach, and Innovation in Accessibility. This is a great way to honor achievements in gaming throughout the year, but there are also celebratory mentions toward games that will not be released until 2023.
The Game Awards’ Most Anticipated Game category is one that simply gauges which game fans are most excited about. This year, the nominees are Final Fantasy 16, Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4, Starfield, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This is an incredible lineup with titles that fans are surely excited for, but it is impossible not to acknowledge glaring omissions that have surprisingly not made it onto this year’s nominations. One of those glaring omissions was Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which is still slated for a release next year.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is Undoubtedly a Highly Anticipated Game
Based on the critical reception for Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, it is reasonable to call Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s absence from this year’s nominations a snub. Spider-Man is one of the most identifiable characters on the planet, being one of popular culture’s largest icons, and Insomniac’s iteration of the character’s mythology has been superbly received thus far.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has now teased Venom and Kraven in its reveal teaser, but nothing else has been announced or shared since besides Insomniac reiterating that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 still aims for a 2023 release. In this case, it certainly should have made it into this category. Hogwarts Legacy is an exciting open-world action-RPG, for example, but it is also muddied still by its inadvertent ties to Harry Potter’s controversial author.
If Hogwarts Legacy wins, it will be surprising due to how much controversy follows it, whether its controversy is earned or not. That is not to say that Hogwarts Legacy does not deserve to win, but Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 would have been a much more amicable choice, yet it somehow dropped out of consideration.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Could Be Kept in the Dark a While Longer
One reason why Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 may not have been included in the nominee pool for Most Anticipated Game could have been due to the game’s nearly nonexistent chance of appearing at the event. It is possible that any of the other nominated games could appear with a trailer during The Game Awards, but Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will almost assuredly be withheld for a Sony-exclusive event.
Of course, there may be other reasons why Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was not included, but it seems like an offhanded snub regardless. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 may intentionally be flying under the radar while development continues, which would insinuate that fans have awhile to wait still until more is shared or celebrated about it.
There are many other snubs at this year’s Game Awards like each other year before it, and the event itself may or may not adhere to everyone’s individual opinions. But that is one of the more fascinating parts of shared community events like this, where peoples’ opinions can be shared and games fans all love can be celebrated. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 may not appear in this year’s Most Anticipated Game category, but there is always a chance that it could win next year’s Game of the Year award instead.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is scheduled to release in 2023 on PS5.