The Game Awards 2022 ended on a bizarre note after a Stage Crasher sneaked up on stage as Elden Ring came on to collect their top honor of Game of the Year.
After The Game Awards ended, host Geoff Keighly confirmed that this individual has been arrested.
As the team was making their way towards the stage high-fiving each other, you can see the kid go up the stairs with the Elden Ring crew, even patting one of the dev's backs as he gets on stage. He mostly remained quiet until director Hidetaka Miyazaki finished his speech.
It does appear that the kid was noticed since the camera cut to a wide shot, and security looked as if they were moving towards the stage. Though, it is surprising that he wasn't stopped or pulled off the stage earlier, or at the very least, had his mic cut when he leaned in to speak.
After Miyazaki's speech, the kid pushed forward to take the mic himself. "Hey, my turn. You know, real quick, I want to thank everybody and say I think I want to nominate [sic] this award to my reformed orthodox rabbi, Bill Clinton. Thank you, everybody," he said.
The words stunned the audience and people on stage as they struggled to process what they had just heard. It's not unusual for other figures in awards shows to try to get a final thank-you in before they're ushered off stage, and the teenaged intruder was dressed formally enough to disguise himself in the huddle of FromSoftware developers, who were understandably so focused on the moment that they didn't look behind them.
The FromSoft team seemed confused about what was happening, and it quickly became clear this wasn't planned. The broadcast camera also pulled super far out, presumably once producers realized what was going on, and people in black suits could be seen approaching the unknown person before escorting him off stage. Watch the video below:
