The Top 10 Gaming Memes Of 2022

Gaming in 2022 was ridiculously strong, with several heavy hitters coming out for long-running franchises. The Sony-exclusive properties Horizon and God of War received highly decorated new entries, and Pokemon received two standalone open-world core games with Scarlet and Violet. That alone would be a threat to any other year in gaming, but 2022 also had the highly anticipated Elden Ring and perhaps less anticipated Overwatch 2.

Despite these video games themselves being a good indicator of the year, what also matters is the memes, and this year delivered quality gaming memes in droves. Whittling it down to the cream of the crop, these are some of the best ones from games in 2022.

Jetstream Sam Thinking

Jetstream Sam Thinking was part of a mid-2022 meme revival of the game Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, with several memes from the game hitting their peak mainstream success in 2022. What sets Jetstream Sam Thinking apart, however, is how versatile he is going forward as a reaction image — not to mention how generally great of a character he is.

Kirby's Mouthful Mode

Lest we forget that Kirby also received a newline game entry this year, Kirby's new title also came with a new gimmick — "a mouthful mode" in which the little pink puffball can overtake various objects (like a car) in order to access new activities. This bottomless pit of pink death finally found something he couldn't swallow, but in doing so, he learned a new way to strike fear into his environment.

Ghost Staring

Game developers these days seem increasingly ready to simply slap a new coat of paint on a previous game, call it a newer version, like "Oldgame 2," and then ship it out for people to consume without making any type of cultural impact or change on it. Surprisingly, that's actually not what happened with the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Once re-released, it actually had some impact as the fan-favorite character Ghost was given some key spotlight moments, culminating in this meme stare down known as Ghost Staring.

Overwatch 2 Will Require

That first sentence under the Ghost Staring blurb above will perhaps never be more relevant than right here. Overwatch 2 managed to take a game that was a significant shake-up in the multiplayer landscape and then diminish the original impact of it in the eyes of many fans. Everything about the game prior to launch was getting lambasted, even the way that new details of the game were leaked was getting memed on, with an entire meme being made out of telling people false info about what things the new game will require to be able to play it.

Cat Breakdancing

A cute little breakdancing cat hit TikTok by storm after it was uploaded in early February. Coming from the relatively unknown game SAKURA School Simulator, this little guy breaks it down with all the energy of a "Quirked Up White Boy," amusing everyone who sees it and enticing them to put their own songs on as the backbeat while creating totally custom redraws.

I'm Not Gonna Sugarcoat It

I'm Not Gonna Sugarcoat It is a meme that originally came out of Tekken before transitioning itself to different fighting games. The general gist of it is, "I'm not gonna take it easy on you," followed by the controller movements required to execute a devastating combo. No matter what game you play, there's some sort of analogy or comparison that can be made in its place. I'm not gonna sugar coat it, I activate the ability of "Exodia The Forbidden One."

Let Me Solo Her

Let Me Solo Her is an absolute legend within the Elden Ring community. On one of the toughest bosses in the game, Malenia (a completely optional one mind you), thousands of players were getting completely walled by the fabled "Blade of Miquella. Enter our hero, Let Me Solo Her, a man that, should you summon him, would simply ask that you stand by the door and watch as he effortlessly took care of the boss without even wearing armor (save a simple pot on his head). His tale became a legend, and that legend reached even the developer FromSoftware, who sent him a care package as thanks for being such a bro.

Pokemon Professors Sada and Turo

The Professors Sada and Turo come from the newly released mainline title Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, but they aren't just your average everyday Pokemon professors. While most professors are shown to be stereotypical old researchers who devoted their life to their research, these professors are best described as "Cavewoman Mommy" and "Daddy GigaChad," which actually helped a lot of players in deciding which version of the game they wanted to play and a throng of memes and fan art this year.

Roblox Baller

Roblox Baller was one of the many Roblox memes to hit the mainstream stage in 2022. This guy, a boss found within a popular custom playable stage, is called "Baller" because he attacks by throwing red dodgeballs at the player. However, due to his face, his overpowered beta-build that was nerfed and the revival of Roblox based shitposting, this guy had a strong October in the world of memes and undeniably left his mark across the internet.

Honorable Mentions

Goku In Fortnite

Goku in Fortnite is exactly how it sounds, the anime protagonist had landed in the battle royale shooter (as was "predicted" every year for the past four years), which led to a lot of funny moments involving people dancing as Goku or demanding that he be added to Smash Bros. next.

No Maidens / Maidenless

No Maidens? was such a perfect storm of a meme. The first character you talk to outside of the starting zone in Elden Ring (which almost everyone talks to) claims that you have no maidens … as do several following characters. This, happening so soon after No Bitches? became a powerhouse meme, led to countless people "Maidenposting" and calling others "Maidenless" as Elden Ring took over the gaming meme world for months on end. This eventually turned into an overused slang term within days, but it still got referenced months later as an insult to other players. What makes the whole thing worse, however, is that the guy who calls you maidenless is literally the one who killed your maiden — go figure.

Looking for more of this year's best viral phenomena and memes? Be sure to check out our other 2022 meme roundups below:

• The Top 10 Memes Of 2022
• KYM Staff Picks Of 2022
• The Slang of 2022
• Breakthrough Meme Formats Of 2022
• The Year Of AI Generators
• Top Gaming Memes Of 2022
• Wildest Stories Of 2022
• Top Streamer Moments Of 2022
• Top TikToks Of 2022
• Top Lewd Memes Of 2022
• Trolls, Rumors and Hoaxes Of 2022
• Top Exploitables Of 2022
• Top Meme Creators Of 2022
• Top Meme Revivals Of 2022