God of War, Diablo, or Elder Scrolls? Internet speculates over mysterious Game Awards statue

Over the weekend, Geoff Keighley, host of the upcoming Game Awards showcase, posted some cryptic information on social media, and the internet has been speculating about what it could mean. But this wasn’t just a quick text post, even though it might have looked like that. Keighley’s post read: “regal.inspiring.thickness,” along with an image of a strange statue in the desert. The internet was quick to connect this to the app What3Words, which uses three-word combinations to pinpoint locations worldwide to within a 3-meter square. Keighley’s three words led right to a square near Joshua Tree, California, where people found a mysterious statue.

The internet speculates over what the mysterious statue in the desert could mean for the Game Awards

Now, the internet has much better images than the initial glimpse shared by Keighley, thanks to MagGamerInc and Kami for sharing them on social media. The statue appears to be a doorway, portal, or gate. A few small steps lead up to a strange-looking double door, surrounded by various skull-faced humanoid figures and creatures, all clumped together into the statue’s walls. There is also a huge eye-like structure perched atop the door, with large tendrils shooting out in multiple directions. Apparently, the eye and the tendrils will also glow bright red at night, giving the statue an even more sinister look. It did not take long for the internet to begin speculating about what the Game Awards host is teasing with this.

Images of the statue found in Joshua Tree.Source: Twitter / X

On social media, some of the first replies speculated, or hoped, that this was a tease for The Elder Scrolls 6, the long-awaited follow-up to Bethesda’s Skyrim, which was teased nearly 8 years ago in 2018. This guess doesn’t seem too impossible, given the series relationship with gates to other dimensions. This was especially common in this year’s remaster, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, which features the iconic Oblivion gates that demonic forces invade through. However, it was only last month that Bethesda’s Todd Howard said that the next Elder Scrolls game is still “a long way off.”

Geoff Keighley's initial post and speculative replies.Source: Twitter / X

Other common speculation included a new God of War game. The desert setting also seems to fit the recent rumors of an Egyptian-focused God of War game. But, one insider, Jez Corden of Windows Central, seemed confident that it had something to do with a Diablo 4 expansion, replying to Keighley’s post with a Diablo gif. Diablo’s themes fit the statue's vibe, with its ominous doorway, glowing red eye, and hordes of demonic-looking creatures, so it’s not unreasonable.

At least until today, this seemed like the best guess. But just a few hours ago, another insider, Jason Schreier from Bloomberg, who often has reliable information about the gaming industry, said it’s not Diablo. In a post on ResetEra discussing the mystery, Schreier wrote, “No idea where Jez is getting that, but this statue is not teasing the Diablo 4 expansion…” adding, in parentheses, “I don’t currently plan on reporting what it is, sorry, but it’s a good one.” So even if we don’t know exactly what it is, it seems like something worth getting excited about. The Game Awards premieres next week on December 11th, so if you want to know what this mysterious statue is all about, you’ll have to tune in to find out.

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• The Elder Scrolls (franchise)
• God of War (franchise)
• TGA / The Game Awards
• Diablo (franchise)