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How to read “best of 2022” lists
These picks are not one shared ranking. The Game Awards reported award winners, GameSpot published editorial choices, AFI named selected groups, and IMDb ranked titles by page views. Those methods answer different questions, so a popularity leader is not necessarily a critics’ pick, and a selection list is not a ranked contest.
The distinctions matter especially for a year-end roundup spanning games, movies, television, and comics. The table gives the strongest supported standouts and identifies who selected them.
| Format | Standout | Selector and method |
|---|---|---|
| Game | Elden Ring | The Game Awards’ 2022 Game of the Year; also included in GameSpot’s December 2022 editorial list |
| Movie | Everything Everywhere All at Once / The Batman | GameSpot’s top movie / IMDb’s most-viewed movie in its 2022 U.S.-release ranking |
| TV | Severance / Stranger Things | GameSpot’s show of the year / IMDb’s most-viewed series with new episodes in 2022 |
| Comics | No verified named pick | IGN’s package included a comics category, but its specific nominees and winner are not established here |
Best games of 2022
Elden Ring: The Game Awards’ winner and a GameSpot pick
The Game Awards named Elden Ring its 2022 Game of the Year. It also won that event’s awards for Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction, and Best Role Playing. Those are specific award results, not proof of a universal critical consensus.
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GameSpot’s December 2022 year-end games list also included Elden Ring among ten titles presented alphabetically. GameSpot’s eligibility description covered new games released since near the start of December 2021, as well as games leaving early access during that period. Its accompanying discussion praised the game’s open world and exploration.
Other notable game picks
The Game Awards named God of War Ragnarök Best Narrative, Stray Best Debut Indie, and Arcane Best Adaptation. Separately, TIME called God of War: Ragnarok its best game of 2022 and described it as available for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. GameSpot’s discussion of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope highlighted movement in its tactical combat. These are different publishers’ and award organizers’ judgments, not interchangeable rankings.
Rank #2
Best movies of 2022
GameSpot’s editorial choice: Everything Everywhere All at Once
GameSpot named Everything Everywhere All at Once its top movie of 2022. Its broader top-ten editorial list also discussed The Batman, Nope, X, Turning Red, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. This is GameSpot’s selection, not a consensus ranking.
IMDb’s page-view leader: The Batman
In a December 12, 2022 press release, IMDb said The Batman topped its list of movies released in the U.S. in 2022, based on IMDb page views. Everything Everywhere All at Once placed eighth on that popularity list. IMDb said its rankings drew on weekly IMDbPro rankings based on customer page views; they measure audience interest on IMDb, not critical opinion.
IMDb described its rankings as reflecting page views from more than 200 million monthly visitors. That audience figure and method are IMDb’s own statements, not an independent audit.
AFI’s selected films
AFI’s 2022 selections included Avatar: The Way of Water, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans, Nope, She Said, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick, The Woman King, and Women Talking. AFI also gave The Banshees of Inisherin a Special Award. AFI’s selections are a group, not a ranked top ten with one winner.
Rank #4
- The Best Dramas
- The Best Comedies
- The Best of the '90s
- The Best in Family Films
- The Best in Westerns
Best TV shows of 2022
GameSpot’s show of the year: Severance
GameSpot named Severance its TV show of 2022 and described it as an Apple TV+ workplace drama. Its separate ten-show list included Andor, The Rehearsal, The Boys, Better Call Saul, and Our Flag Means Death. Both are GameSpot editorial judgments.
IMDb’s popularity leader: Stranger Things
IMDb put Stranger Things first among TV and streaming series that released new episodes in 2022. House of the Dragon ranked second, Better Call Saul third, and The Sandman eighth. IMDb chief operating officer Nikki Santoro attributed the top spot to customer page views and noted the show’s earlier placements on IMDb’s annual lists: second in 2016, fifth in 2017, and third in 2019. This is IMDb’s popularity ranking, not a review score.
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AFI’s selected television
AFI’s 2022 TV selections included Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Better Call Saul, Hacks, Mo, Pachinko, Reservation Dogs, Severance, Somebody Somewhere, and The White Lotus. As with its films, AFI presented a selected group rather than a ranked winner.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What can be confirmed about 2022 comics?
IGN’s year-end package covered comics, including a Best Comic Book category, according to a near-title mirror dated December 5, 2022. A separate search result identified an IGN category called “The Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2022,” as well as a Best Comic Book TV Series category. The accessible copies do not establish the named comics nominees or winner, so it would be misleading to supply a specific “best comic” from this evidence.
The mirror says the broader package also covered games, movies, TV, and anime, with nominees and winners revealed in stages. It gives December 2, 2022 as the view/play eligibility cutoff. Because the linked IGN page was not accessible and the mirror contains an apparent typo in a later write-in cutoff, that later date should not be treated as reliable. This confirms the category’s scope, not its results.
When comparing comics recommendations, keep the format clear: an ongoing series and a self-contained graphic novel are different reading commitments, and a comic is not the same thing as a TV adaptation. Confirm the exact edition and current availability before buying; no specific edition or stock information is established here.
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Which 2022 pick should you start with?
- For a game award winner: start with Elden Ring, The Game Awards’ Game of the Year and a title also included in GameSpot’s year-end list.
- For a staff-selected movie: GameSpot’s top pick was Everything Everywhere All at Once.
- For a movie leading an audience-interest list: IMDb’s page-view ranking put The Batman first among U.S. 2022 movie releases.
- For a staff-selected TV drama: GameSpot chose Severance.
- For the series leading IMDb’s popularity list: choose Stranger Things, which ranked first among series with new episodes in 2022.
Those are useful starting points, not a definitive cross-format canon. The selector and its method are part of what each “best” label means.
Quick Recap
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