Legends Arceus picks up nomination for Best Role Playing game for The Game Awards 2022

It's a little over 3 weeks out from the broadcast of The Game Awards 2022, and the nominees for the event have finally been announced. Only one Pokémon title was nominated for an award this year, with Pokémon Legends: Arceus picking up a nomination for Best Role Playing.

Announced worldwide on the 25th Anniversary of the release of Pokémon Red and Green, Pokémon Legends: Arceus marked a shift in the franchise to a more open-world style of gameplay. The game takes place in the Hisui region, a version of Sinnoh in the past. The player character is transported back in time to the Hisui region by Arceus, who bestows upon them a device called the Arc Phone and the task of "seeking out all Pokémon".

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the first Pokémon core series game to secure a Game Awards nomination since Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, which were nominated for Best Remaster (a category which no longer exists) in the inaugural Game Awards in 2014. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, which launched on November 19, 2021, was eligible for the awards last year, but failed to secure a nomination in any category.

The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony which celebrates creative and technical achievements in the global video game industry. It was founded in 2014 by Geoff Keighley, who also hosts and produces the show. Keighley perhaps is best known for his work with Spike TV and G4, including more than a decade spent working on The Game Awards predecessor, the Spike Video Game Awards.