The Game Awards are back for their 2023 edition, marking that time of year when the industry and fans come together to celebrate the best in video games. Marking the 10th edition of the show hosted by Geoff Keighley, the annual event is held in high esteem by developers from around the world, who will compete in 31 categories rewarding games of all genres. As usual, the ceremony will feature major announcements and trailers of upcoming titles, supported by a dedicated musical orchestra led by returning composer Lorne Balfe. There haven’t been as many leaks this year, so the anticipation is high as players cross their fingers hoping for the biggest reveals.
Given the spacing of the trailers and awards, host Keighley once again expects The Game Awards to last around three hours, although this year Valve isn’t giving away free Steam Decks every minutes to online viewers. Instead, the company is holding a raffle to distribute 100 Steam Deck OLEDs (1TB models) to a lucky few – residing in North America, Europe, and some Asian regions – who will all be able to participate once the show is over launched. There are no big changes to the nominations this year, but Keighley confirmed that creators are moving away from using the “World Premiere” card at the start of their announcements to treating each trailer or first look as a ” great gaming content.” ‘
Security is also tight, as we’ve seen two instances of stage crashers entering to interrupt good times and make absurd comments – the first occurred during The Game Awards 2022, when Elden Ring lifted the game trophy of the year, while others took place at Summer Game Fest earlier this year. Understandably, Keighley did not go into detail about the enhanced measures.
The Game Awards 2023: date and time
The Game Awards 2023 will begin on Thursday, December 7 at 4:30 p.m. PT/7:30 p.m. ET, just like last time. For India, that translates into the early morning of Friday, December 8 at 6 a.m. IST with a scheduled finish of 9:30 a.m. – not the most comfortable time to catch up on gaming’s biggest event of the year. The first thirty minutes of this run will be devoted to a pre-show, hosted by Sydnee Goodman, allowing small developers to showcase their games and content creators to talk about what they want from the show.
So if you only plan to watch the main show, tune in at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET in the US and 6:30 AM in India.
The Game Awards 2023: How to watch?
The ceremony will take place live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles with an in-person audience, but as always, a simultaneous live broadcast is planned. You can watch The Game Awards 2023 for free on its official Twitch and YouTube channels, in addition to major platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Facebook Live, Steam, TikTok Live and Instagram Live. Of course, we could also watch it via the channels of other video game streamers, who will have signed up to co-broadcast the event and react to it. Indian viewers can also stream the show live on Disney+ Hotstar, MX Player, Voot, JioTV and Loco, and tune into YouTube Gaming for a Hindi stream.
Or you can just watch the embedded stream below:
In case you miss The Game Awards live, a VOD will be released shortly after the event ends and there will still be 4K downloads of the trailers and biggest moments, available individually on its official YouTube channel.
What to expect from The Game Awards 2023?
One of the main reasons gamers turn to The Game Awards is to learn about upcoming games and have their unrealistic expectations verified. Larian Studios finally reveal when Baldur’s Gate 3 comes to Xbox, which is still on track for release this month, as promised. The studio initially struggled to bring split-screen co-op to the Xbox Series S due to its technical limitations. So it will be interesting to know if the team decided to abandon it or maintain content parity. There are also exclusive Xbox reveals in store for us at The Game Awards, which many hope will be a sneak peek at what’s happening in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II.
During this time, SEGA sent letters to fighting game content creators around the world with the quote “New Era New Energy”, promising exciting things. Supermassive Games – best known for choice-based horror titles like the Dark Pictures anthology – is collaborating with Behavior Interactive to develop a single-player game based on the Dead by Daylight universe. Staying on the horror theme, The Outlast Trials developer Red Barrels has a “major release” planned for us. Next, Epic Games is preparing to show a trailer for Rocket Racing, a car racing game mode integrated into Fortnite, showcasing all of Rocket League’s over-the-top mechanics such as boosting and flying. The mode is set to launch for free on December 8, but the publisher plans to show off something at the awards ceremony.
Xbox gamers, we hear you’re looking for more news on Baldur’s Gate 3. The game is on track for a December release.
We’ll see you at The Game Awards for the World Premiere™ of the exact release date.
– Larian Studios (@larianstudios) November 15, 2023
The official Game Awards Twitter account briefly teased an announcement from Hideo Kojima using a sideways eyes emoji, before being deleted. This could very well be a trailer for Death Stranding 2, which was revealed at last year’s event via a cryptic teaser featuring Léa Seydoux and Norman Reedus. So yes, its game director, Hideo Kojima, should also make an appearance, after arrived in Los Angeles earlier this week. Fans are also expecting FromSoftware to release a trailer and release date for the highly anticipated Elden Ring “Shadow of the Erdtree” DLC, announced last year, with hints at a new explorable region and the presence of the Empyrian Miquella. While it was initially thought the expansion would release in early 2024, an interview last week suggests that’s “a bit far away”, but promises new battles and new characters.
Reports claim that Arkane Studios will present its next title at The Game Awards 2023, which is expected to be Dishonored 3 – details of which emerged from the Microsoft v US FTC legal proceedings in September. We might also get another look at Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the untitled Mass Effect game, Tekken 8, Hades 2, and more.
The Game Awards 2023 presenters
To honor the winners, Keighley loves to mix things up by inviting both gaming industry titans and Hollywood actors. Christopher Judge, who played Kratos in God of the war reboot games, returns to the stage to present an award this year – probably for best performance, considering he was last year’s winner. Other notable presenters include Anthony Mackie, whose show Twisted Metal is also competing in the Best Adaptation category; Vince Zampella, CEO of Respawn Entertainment; and famous DJ and EDM artist Zedd. Besides them, the main actors of the Fallout series will make an appearance at The Game Awards 2023 – in particular Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins and Aaron Moten.
Alan Wake 2 fans are in for a treat as the band Poets of the Fall will perform a musical piece live on stage, under their in-game alter ego Old Gods of Asgard. And as we all know, Keighley’s love for the Muppets knows no bounds, so The Great Gonzo will also be there as presenter.
The Game Awards 2023 nominees
As previously mentioned, The Game Awards 2023 hosts 31 categories, of which Baldur’s Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2 tied for eight nominations each, in addition to competing for the prestigious Game of the Year trophy. Other GOTY nominees include The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, the Resident Evil 4 remake and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Keighley is sticking strictly to his six nominations rule, despite an extremely strong year for the games. There are also some strong contenders for best adaptation, with the favorites being HBO’s The Last of Us and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
The list of nominees also sparked a debate over what constitutes an “indie game” when netizens noticed that Dave the Diver, the pixelated roguelike about deep-sea fishing and selling sushi, was nominated for “Best Game independent “. The fact is that, despite its aesthetics, the game is developed by Mintroket, which is owned by the large South Korean publisher Nexon, which makes it technically not independent. Keighley addressed these concerns during a live Q&A, stating that the word “independent” could mean different things to different people: “Does independent mean the game’s budget? Does independent mean where the source of funding was? Is this based on team size? Is it the kind of independent spirit of a game, that is, a smaller, different kind of game? he said (via Kotaku), adding that the concern is justified.
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