Geoff Keighley‘s The Game Awards will take place as a live, in-person ceremony in Los Angeles on December 9.
The celebration of video game culture will take place at the Microsoft Theater, the usual venue that holds about 5,000 people in downtown Los Angeles. On top of that, the awards event will be broadcast widely over the internet.
The Game Awards set a big record last December as an online-only event, with 83 million livestreams, up 84% from the previous year. The Game Awards will once again be distributed as a free global 4K UHD livestream to fans around the world across more than 40 global video, social and gaming platforms.
Once again, the show will bring together the biggest names in gaming and popular culture for a celebration of video game culture with awards, first-look world premieres and new game announcements, plus musical performances, including The Game Awards Orchestra live on stage at Microsoft Theater, conducted by Lorne Balfe.
“We are very excited to return to the Microsoft Theater for a special night to celebrate the past, present and future of video games,” said Keighley, creator, executive producer, and host of The Game Awards, in a statement. “Our goal is to bring the entire community together to celebrate the most powerful form of entertainment in the world, and recognize emerging voices that represent the future of the medium.”
Additional details on health and safety protocols for the invite-only, in-person event at Microsoft Theater will be shared in the coming weeks. I spoke with Keighley about that in the past and he said the show would adhere to the best practices and guidance from local health officials and the venue itself. He said he wanted to do it in-person as people are so hungry to get back to a social life. and meet with their industry friends.
The Game Awards will deliver free, playable game content and interactive extensions on leading streaming platforms, including full support for co-streaming. The Game Awards is executive produced by Keighley and Kimmie Kim. LeRoy Bennett is creative director, and Richard Preuss is director.
The Game Awards is guided by an advisory board that includes the executive leadership teams from Activision (Rob Kostich, president), AMD (Lisa Su, CEO), Electronic Arts (Laura Miele, chief studios officer), Google (Phil Harrison, vice president of Stadia), Microsoft (Phil Spencer, executive vice president of gaming), Nintendo of America (Doug Bowser, president), Riot Games (Marc Merrill, co-chairman), Rockstar Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Ubisoft (Yves Guillemot, CEO), Valve, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (David Haddad, president), and Tencent (Steven Ma, senior vice president).