"This year? Oh, God, there are probably four or five things of that level. I can’t wait to show people this stuff," enthuses The Game Awards architect, Geoff Keighley, in a recent interview with USA Today. The "level" he's referring to is Elden Ring which, when its gameplay was first revealed during Keighley's Summer Game Fest earlier this year, effectively took up conversation residency across the internet for the better part of Q3, 2021.

And according to Geoff, a handful of titles ("six or 10") no one knows exist yet, at that level, will be revealed during this week's The Game Awards.

All aboard the hype-train.

In addition to that nugget, Keighley has also suggested the titles on show this year -- some 40 to 50 -- are truly of next-gen foundation where we'll see a definitive leap in quality set to make a mark on the respective next-gen machines.

"Last year was pretty hard just because of the pandemic," Geoff says. "A lot of things got delayed and pushed. I think we pulled it off. We had Mass Effect, Perfect Dark, Sephiroth in Smash and a lot of other great stuff. But this year -– especially the first, like, 30 or 45 minutes of the show, we’ve got some pretty major stuff."

Check out the full interview via the link above. The Game Awards airs this Friday from 10AM AEST on YouTube, Twitch and other streaming platforms. AusGamers is also a part of the judging panel for awards consideration.