The hype is building for The Game Awards 2024, the gaming world’s pre-eminent bash that plays like a cross between the Oscars and Comic-Con.
While plenty of gongs are handed out on the night, including the coveted game of the year trophy, the trailers for upcoming games and surprise reveals arguably elicit the most excitement.
As usual, this year’s event will be live-streamed online for the world to watch. Here’s how you can tune into the action and what to expect.
When does the Game Awards 2024 start?
You might want to book the day off (or pull a sickie) as The Game Awards will stretch past any hard-working person’s bedtime.
This year’s ceremony kicks off at 12.30am UK time on Friday, December 13 and is expected to last about three hours.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is up for the game of the year
Square-Enix LTD
Why the shockingly late start time? The show is being held in Los Angeles on the afternoon of Thursday, December 12 at 4.30pm — and we’re eight hours ahead of Pacific time.
How to watch the Game Awards 2024
The Game Awards will air on major social media platforms and live-streaming services. You can catch it live on YouTube in glorious 4K, Twitch and its controversial rival Kick, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Steam, TikTok, and Instagram, among other places.
Astro Bot, the year’s best reviewed game, has been nominated for seven awards
Astro Bot
Which games are up for the most awards?
To make life more interesting, this year’s Game Awards are an open race. The spoils could be shared between several big titles because there is no clear frontrunner.
In joint first place, with seven nominations each, are PlayStation exclusives Astro Bot and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, both of which are gunning for game of the year.
In the running for five awards, Balatro has some big fans including Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker
Balatro
Want to get involved? There’s still time to cast your vote across all 29 categories, with player votes contributing 10 per cent of the final tally (the lion’s share of results is determined by a panel of journos and influencers).
In addition, you’ll get a full say on the audience-led Player’s Voice category. After two rounds of voting, this has been whittled down to five nominees: Black Myth: Wukong, Genshin Impact, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Wuthering Waves, and Zenless Zone Zero. Voting closes at 2am on Thursday, December 12, just hours before the show.
Before the event, those in the know have been teasing some bombshell announcements. Bloomberg’s Jason Schrier said the show will feature two “holy sh*t” moments.
Of course, the fragmented nature of gaming, which is home to genres as disparate as battle royales and cosy games, means one person’s holy grail is another’s snooze fest.
Industry giants also face a bit of a dilemma: Do they trot out their biggest releases at someone else’s awards ceremony or save them from their shows, where they’ll get all the attention? After all, the last thing anyone wants is for their blockbuster to be drowned out by a cavalcade of trailers.
However, we already know several big reveals will appear at the show. Publisher 2K Games has confirmed that its upcoming sequels Borderlands 4 and Mafia: The Old Country will appear.
Black Myth Wukong will compete against Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree in the Player’s Voice category
Black Myth Wukong
EA has teased something about Hazelight Studios director Josef Fares’s next game. For the uninitiated, that’s the developer behind co-op masterpieces Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, A Way Out, and It Takes Two. Fares infamously declared “F**k the Oscars” during the 2017 ceremony, a candid moment that has since become renowned within gaming culture.
Of course, several crowdpleasers could feasibly rise above the noise — the biggest being GTA 6. But, Rockstar’s latest opus is an industry unto itself that would eclipse everything else in sight. Word is developers are already running scared from its autumn 2025 release date, making the period a veritable ghost town for new games.
The same goes for the Switch 2, though that seems more suited for a Nintendo Direct presentation.
Still, many eager gamers are waiting for word on Naughty Dog’s next project. The as-yet-unannounced game has reportedly been developed since 2020 and is reportedly based on a new intellectual property.
We’ll maybe get to see some gameplay footage from Borderlands 4 at The Game Awards
2K Games
Plus, Xbox could give us actual release dates for its upcoming first-party games Fable and Doom: The Dark Ages, both slated for 2025. Dropping either of those in the first half of next year would give players something to look forward to.
Lastly, Hideo Kojima is a regular sight at The Game Awards and has plenty to show off this year. There’s Death Stranding 2, which requires a more concrete release date than simply 2025.
We’ll perhaps get updates on his Xbox horror project OD and PlayStation’s Physint, too. The latter sounds like a spiritual successor to his groundbreaking stealth series, Metal Gear Solid.