Geoff Keighley’s annual The Game Awards is coming back this year to celebrate the industry after a turbulent 2020, using an all-digital format to present its trophies.
In a release, The Game Awards announced it would premiere on December 10, 2020 away from a traditional stage floor. It will also use a mix of webcams and studio to deliver a fully-fledged awards night with various game developers, actors and gamers nominated for their accomplishments over 2020. For viewers, the awards sticks to its format as a free-to-watch program which also reveals new game announcements and surprise releases. Full games and playable demos for anticipated games will also be dropped at the moment their trailers are done.
“With the world unable to safely gather in one physical location, The “Oscars for games” will adapt a multi-city approach to the 2020 broadcast,” the organization wrote, adding it will air from Los Angeles, Tokyo and London – places which represent developers in each continent. “Without a live-in person audience, fans around the world and thousands of live co-streamers will participate and virtually interact with the show across social media, through live in-game experiences, and via interactive extensions on leading streaming platforms.”
A new award for Innovation in Accessibility has also been announced to recognize developers and advocates who continuously push for all games to be playable for wider communities. The award is a part of the Global Citizen Gaming program which strives for inclusion and diversity in the gaming community. It also fits with the show’s annual awards, including Best Narrative, Best Remake, Games for Impact and Game of the Year.
According to Keighley, This year’s The Game Awards are heavier from the impact of video games during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. ““In 2020, video games have connected and comforted us more than ever, and that makes the 2020 edition of The Game Awards our most important show ever,” he said. ““Our team is working hard to deliver an innovative and thoughtful program that celebrates excellence, previews the future, and amplifies important voices that are shaping the future of this medium.”
Keighley founded The Game Awards in 2014 as a successor to the Spike Video Game Awards when it first aired in 2003. Since then, it became a platform for world premieres with its live awards show format with support from studios including Activision, Ubisoft, EA, Google, Nintendo, Xbox and Sony.
This year’s awards ceremony will be livestreamed on December 10, 2020 at an unannounced time.
