The Game Awards will stream live from Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo this year on Dec. 10 in an all-digital format.
The yearly awards show is foregoing a physical location due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but host and executive producer Geoff Keighley told Variety that it was important to still have a show this year.
“The response back from everyone was like, ‘no, it’s actually really, really important that we do The Game Awards this year,’” Keighley said of a meeting with the show’s board members. “The message was also like, ‘no, you should still try and do the show in a big way.’ So it’s not like we’re doing it with a drastically reduced budget or it’s just gonna be me in one location. Let’s do three cities. Let’s try and make it a big moment for the industry.”
The online format allows for the unique situation of broadcasting the show from three locations. The Game Awards has previously been broadcast from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles for each of its five years.
“I was like ‘well, maybe we could do this on a world scale.’ So that was really the impetus for the idea—we would never normally be able to do that, to have three cities live,” Keighley said. “But I’m like, ‘this is a unique year of circumstances, so let’s try that.’ I think it sends a really great message, and I think it’s what I’d like to do more of.”
The Primetime Emmy Awards recently hosted an online show this past weekend, showing that it’s possible for awards ceremonies to exist in a COVID-19 world.
The Game Awards will be broadcast live, worldwide, across multiple platforms like Twitch and YouTube on Dec. 10.
