When does the Game Awards 2024 start?
The Game Awards 2024 is scheduled to start on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT. Traditionally, the show begins with a 30 minute "pre-show," featuring a different host and a more relaxed rate of smaller announcements, interspersed with a handful of awards. At 8:00, we expect the main show to begin, with bigger announcements and the majority of the actual awards.
How to watch the Game Awards 2024
The Game Awards 2024 will be available through a variety of platforms, meaning you can just use whichever one suits you best. The show will be available live on YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter (X).
The YouTube stream supports 4K, meaning it'll have the best overall picture quality of any of the streams. In my experience, the Twitch stream is usually the fastest, meaning it'll be a few seconds ahead of the other streams. You'll need to weigh what is most important to you when picking the stream to watch.
Who are the nominees for the Game Awards 2024?
The full list of nominations for the Game Awards 2024 has been published, with Sony Interactive Entertainment, Xbox, and Square Enix as frontrunners across numerous games. While the full awards list spans a large number of categories and dozens of games, the six titles competing for Game of the Year are as follows: Astro Bot, Balatro, Black Myth Wukong, Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Metaphor: ReFantazio.
What should you expect from the Game Awards 2024?
Ahead of the awards, a few gaming publishers will agree to tease an announcement, sharing bits and pieces of what they'll be revealing during the show. I've gathered all the known announcements so far in the list below.
- Best Xbox headsets to get in 2024
- Best upcoming Xbox games
- Best gaming laptops in 2024
- Best Xbox controller deals
- Best Xbox hard drives
- Best Xbox SSDs
While things naturally vary from year to year, the Game Awards has traditionally brought some major announcements from publishers across the industry. Last year's 2023 awards saw the reveal of Marvel's Blade from Xbox and Bethesda's Arkane Lyon, as well as the Valhalla DLC for Sony Santa Monica's God of War Ragnarök.
I'm expecting a heavy third-party presence this year, and based on what we've seen from confirmed attending developers and publishers, that's bearing out so far. Here's everything confirmed to appear during the Game Awards 2024:
Borderlands 4
The next entry in the iconic looter-shooter franchise from Gearbox Software is confirmed to be appearing, with a new trailer for Borderlands 4 on the way during the show.
Dying Light: The Beast
Techland's next game is continuing the story of Kyle Crane in what's being described as a "standalone zombie adventure," and we'll be getting a new look at this game during the awards.
Hazelight's next game
Hazelight Studios, the team behind A Way Out and It Takes Two, is confirmed to be revealing its next game during the Game Awards 2024.
Mafia: The Old Country
2K's Hangar 13 is working on a new Mafia game, telling the story of the Sicilian families in their home territory of Italy. We'll be getting a new look at this game during the awards.
Warframe: 1999
During the awards, there'll be an update on Warframe: 1999, an expansion to Digital Extremes' ongoing free-to-play multiplayer title.
