Game Awards host and creator Geoff Keighley has spent the last week teasing a huge announcement for this year’s show, which has gamers scratching their heads as to what it could be. Following a cryptic tweet (below), industry experts are now weighing in on what they think the mysterious statue is alluding to – and what it definitely isn’t.

The teaser image in question shows what appears to be a huge stone door rising up from a desert with demons and skeletons carved into its face. Captioned with ‘regal.inspiring.thickness’, it points to a What3Words location just outside the Joshua Tree National Park in California, where a mysterious demonic statue has since appeared in real life.

Of course, this has caused gamers to speculate over what the tease could be for. At first glance, the demons trying to break out of the portal’s structure appear very similar to Diablo 4, which could hint at a new expansion for the popular ARPG.

This rumour caught traction when Windows Central editor Jez Corden seemingly confirmed that the tease was alluding to Diablo 4 on X (formerly Twitter) – but that claim was quickly shut down by Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier. Posting on a ResetEra forum, Schreier wrote: “No idea where Jez is getting that, but this statue is not teasing the Diablo 4 expansion. (I don’t currently plan on reporting what it is, sorry, but it’s a good one.)”

Another popular theory was that Bethesda might finally be ready to lift the lid on some Elder Scrolls 6 gameplay given the portals look similar in design to Oblivion gates. However, Schreier returned to ResetEra one more time to temper expectations: “I’ll do this one more time because people are getting out of control: no the statue isn’t teasing Elder Scrolls 6.”

One more popular theory saw a new God of War thrown into the mix. In 2022, Sony Santa Monica rounded off the story of Atreus in Ragnarok, but several teases indicated that the series could see a shift to Egyptian mythology in a future entry for PS5.

However, those in the know were quick to shut down that idea before it gained too much steam. Writing in the Twitch chat of streamer Luke Stephens, the creative director at Sony Santa Monica Cory Barlog wrote, “no, it’s not gow”.

Other video game developers have also weighed in on the cryptic tease, ruling themselves out of picture. The founder of CI Games and team behind Lords of the Fallen, Marek Tyminski wrote on X, “Flattered so many think we’re behind that statue. Can confirm it’s not us, we’re just as hyped as you are.”

Tyminski also added that his fellow developers are hoping that it’s something from FromSoftware, the folks that brought us Dark Souls, Elden Ring and Bloodborne. The developer does have a track record of appearing at Geoff Keighley’s shows having first shown gameplay for Elden Ring at Summer Game Fest in June 2021.

That said, the studio has just launched Elden Ring Nightrein earlier this year and also has its new project ‘The Duskbloods’ launching on Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026. As such, it would be a very early tease if FromSoft were to announce a brand new game this week.

We’re still very much in the dark as to what Keighley could be teasing, but all will be revealed at The Game Awards this week. Brits will need to stay up late to catch the show with the action kicking off at 12:30am on Friday, December 12.