The Game Awards 2024

Last updated

The Game Awards 2024
The Game Awards 2024 poster.jpg
DateDecember 12, 2024 (2024-12-12)
Venue Peacock Theater, Los Angeles
CountryUnited States
Hosted by Geoff Keighley
Most nominations
Website thegameawards.com
Online coverage
Produced by
  • Geoff Keighley
  • Kimmie Kim
Directed byRichard Preuss
  2023  · The Game Awards · 2025 

The Game Awards 2024 is an upcoming award show to honor the best video games of 2024. It is set to be the eleventh show hosted by Geoff Keighley, creator and producer of the Game Awards, and held with a live audience at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on December 12, 2024. The event is set to be live streamed across online platforms globally.

Contents

Background

The Game Awards host and producer Geoff Keighley Geoff Keighley - 19th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards (D5X 8647) (cropped).jpg
The Game Awards host and producer Geoff Keighley

As with previous iterations of the Game Awards, the 2024 show is set to be hosted and produced by Canadian games journalist Geoff Keighley. He returned as an executive producer alongside Kimmie Kim, [1] and Richard Preuss and LeRoy Bennett returned as director and creative director, respectively. [2] The presentation, celebrating the show's tenth anniversary, is scheduled to take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on December 12, 2024, [3] and will be live streamed across more than 30 online platforms, [2] including Facebook, Instagram, Steam, TikTok, Twitch, X, and YouTube. [4] Alternative live streams offering American Sign Language and audio descriptions will also be available on YouTube. [2]

The main event will be preceded by a preshow titled Opening Act. [5] Public tickets became available for purchase on November 1. [3] Future Class organizer Emily Bouchac indicated that the Future Class initiative—an annual list of 50 individuals from the industry who best represent its future, introduced in 2020—would not induct new members in 2024, instead focusing on valuing existing alumni. [6]

Nominees

Nominees for the show's 29 categories were announced on November 18, 2024. [7] [8] Any game released for public consumption on or before November 22 was eligible for consideration, [9] including downloadable content (DLC), expansions, remakes, remasters, and seasonal content. [10] The nominees were compiled by a jury panel composed of members from over 130 media outlets globally; [11] ballots were due by November 12. [9] Winners are determined between the jury (90 percent) and public voting (10 percent); the latter is held via the official website and on Discord [a] until December 11. [1] [12] The exception is the Player's Voice award, fully nominated and voted-on by the public, for which voting is set to open on December 2. [13] Specialized juries decide the nominees for categories such as accessibility, adaptation, and esports. [14]

Awards

Media

Game of the Year Best Game Direction
Best NarrativeBest Art Direction
Best Score and MusicBest Audio Design
Best PerformanceGames for Impact
Best Independent GameBest Debut Indie Game
Best Ongoing GameBest Community Support
Best Mobile GameBest VR / AR Game
Best Action GameBest Action / Adventure Game
Best Role Playing GameBest Fighting Game
Best Family GameBest Sim / Strategy Game
Best Sports / Racing GameBest Multiplayer
Innovation in AccessibilityBest Adaptation [b]
Most Anticipated GamePlayer's Voice [c]
Nominees to be determined on December 9 [15]

Esports and creators

Best Esports GameBest Esports Athlete
Best Esports TeamContent Creator of the Year

Multiple nominations

Astro Bot and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth led the show with seven nominations each, followed by Metaphor: ReFantazio with six. Sony Interactive Entertainment led the publishers with 15 nominations, [d] followed by Square Enix with 11 and Sega with 9. [e] In addition to video game publishers, Amazon MGM Studios and Netflix both received two nominations for their television series in Best Adaptation. [7] [8] [16]

Reception

Several critics were pleasantly surprised by Balatro 's nominations due to its genre, [17] [18] [19] though some felt other indie games remained overlooked outside of their dedicated categories. [19] [20] TheGamer 's Stacey Henley appreciated that Games for Impact "can finally feel like part of the show" as, unlike previous years, some of its nominees were also named in other categories, [21] though The Guardian 's Keza MacDonald found its nominees incongruous and criteria confusing. [22] TheGamer's Tessa Kaur criticized the omission of Future Class, deeming it "a loss for the industry". [23] Dragon Age: The Veilguard and EA Sports College Football 25 were considered among the biggest snubs, [18] [24] [25] while some viewers felt The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Stellar Blade deserved more nominations. [25] [26]

Many journalists and viewers criticized Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree 's Game of the Year nomination—the first for a DLC expansion—as it overshadowed other games, [27] [28] [17] though others felt its high quality justified the nomination. [18] [29] [30] The Game Awards's website was updated before nominees were announced to clarify that DLC was eligible, which many predicted was specifically in preparation for Shadow of the Erdtree's divisive nominations; [10] [28] [31] some viewers erroneously accused Keighley of changing the rules to make Shadow of the Erdtree eligible. [32] Others also felt its eligibility meant other DLC was snubbed at previous shows, like Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty in 2023, [33] [34] and suggested a new category dedicated to DLC would be more appropriate, [18] [29] [35] though TheGamer's Henley argued there are too few annual releases to justify it. [36]

Some journalists considered Black Myth: Wukong an outlier in the Game of the Year nominees and were surprised by its success considering its competition; [27] [25] it is the lowest-scoring Game of the Year nominee in the show's history, with 81 out of 100 on review aggregator website Metacritic. [37] [38] TheGamer's Tessa Kaur felt the game's biggest accomplishment was its popularity, comparing it to Barbie 's Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards. [39] Conversely, Vice 's Dwayne Jenkins defended its nomination and criticized those questioning it, arguing a game's value should not rely solely on critics' review scores. [40]

Notes

  1. In China, fan voting is held via Bilibili. [12]
  2. Awarded to media based on video games
  3. 100 percent public-voted award with a three-round nomination process that will begin with 30 games
  4. 1 2 Some outlets counted Sony Interactive Entertainment's nominations at 16 as it is the parent company of Destiny 2 publisher Bungie. [1] [8]
  5. 1 2 Sega received two additional nominations as co-producer of Knuckles and Like a Dragon: Yakuza for Best Adaptation. [7]
  6. Some outlets counted Xbox Game Studios's nominations at 12 as it is a sister company of Activision, Bethesda Game Studios, and Blizzard Entertainment. [1] [8]
  7. Riot Games received an additional nomination as co-producer of Arcane for Best Adaptation. [7]

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