Once again, the annual Geoff Keighley Game Awards show goes on with lots of awards given out and lots (in your best announcer voice) showings around the world. Whether you want to see your favorite games win prizes or you’re just here for the big reveal, you’ll want to know how to watch the Game Awards and when it kicks off. Luckily, we have all the details right here.
Deathloop currently leading the group, but Psychonauts 2 and PlayStation exclusive Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart also received many nominations. But who will win the public vote? Read on below for when the Games Awards Ceremony begins, the full list of nominees, and other things we can expect to see during the show.
When will The Game Awards 2021 take place?
The 2021 Game Awards Program takes place on Thursday, December 9 (or Friday the 10th depending on where you live). You can find the exact date and time in your time zone below:
- US East Coast: Thursday, December 9, 5 p.m. EST
- US West Coast: Thursday, December 9, 8 p.m. PST
- UK: Friday, December 10, 1 a.m. GMT
How to watch The Game Awards 2021?
The event will pass through different video platforms, consists of YouTube and Twitch. These streams are expected to begin half an hour earlier than the times listed above, although it is still unclear if there will be a pre-show segment with any additional news or early screenings on world or not. Judging by Geoff Keighley’s past Game Awards and various Summer Olympics Festival programs, there could be some minor revelations in these pre-shows, but the big announcements are likely to be reserved for the main program. The Main Game awards show will run for 3 hours, bringing us into the UK in the early hours of the morning.
Will The Game Awards 2021 have any major revelations?
You may be mistaken in thinking that a Game Prize is just a prize. There are also plenty of announcements about upcoming games, with previous years showing the Perfect Dark reboot, The Wolf Among Us 2, and Xbox Series X.
There are plenty of hints starting to come out for some of the announcements we should expect this year. This Twitter Exchange between Keighley and the official Sonic account says we can see more of the upcoming Sonic game, while this tweet from Xbox Game Pass also teased that we can expect to see more Game Pass PC Day One launches announced at The Game Awards.
I’ll keep my expectations relatively low for all of this so I’m really surprised at any major revelations. One of my big predictions at every major event over the past few years has been something related to fables, but Microsoft responded to that wish with teaser at E3 2020. So the game trailer Fable please? Now that I’m part of the RPS treehouse, you can all witness my occasional attempts to summon some kind of fable announcement and immense frustration when I inevitably have to. wait another year.
The Game Awards 2021 will have celebrity guests?
It wouldn’t be a Keighlevent if he didn’t feature every celebrity he knows to share in the reveal. This year, there’s an all-star lineup to announce winners for a variety of categories, including Giancarlo Esposito of The Mandalorian and Ming-Na Wen, Laura Bailey and Ashley Johnson of Critical Role, and herself. Shang-Chi, Simu Liu (any chance to mention Marvel is a must, guys). You can also expect live musical performances from Sting, Imagine Dragons and The Game Awards Orchestra. I’m just disappointed he didn’t bring The Muppets, if I’m honest.
Who is the nominee for The Game Awards 2021?
As mentioned above, Deathloop has the most nominations at The Game Awards 2021, but there are plenty of other honors to be considered in every category. Psychonauts 2 and It Takes Two both earned five nominations, while Resident Evil Village had four. I recently spewed out Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy give Advent Calendar RPS and it looks like the Game Awards jury was equally impressed, as it also had 4 nominations. You can see the full list of candidates in every category below:
GAME OF THE YEAR
- Deathloop
- It takes two
- Metroid Dread
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Village
BEST GAME GUIDE
- Deathloop
- It takes two
- Profit
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
BEST NARRATIVE
- Deathloop
- It takes two
- Life is Strange: True Colors
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Psychonauts 2
BEST ART DIRECTIONS
- Artistic escape
- Deathloop
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
BEST POINTS AND MUSIC
- Artistic escape
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Deathloop
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139
BEST SOUND DESIGN
- Deathloop
- Forza Horizon 5
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Village
- Profit
BEST PERFORMANCE
- Erika Mori as Alex Chen (Life is Strange: True Colors)
- Giancarlo Esposito as Anton Castillo (Far Cry 6)
- Jason Kelley as Colt Vahn (Deathloop)
- Maggie Robertson as Lady Dimitrescu (Resident Evil Village)
- Ozioma Akagha as Julianna Blake (Deathloop)
IMPACT GAMES
- Before your eyes
- Dungeon Boyfriend
- Chicory: A colorful story
- Life is Strange: True Colors
- No more home
BEST ONGOING
- Apex Legends
- Final Fantasy XIV Online
- Fortnite
- The Genshin effect
- Call of Duty: Warzone
BEST INDIE
- 12 minutes
- Door of death
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Encode
- Loop Hero
BEST MOBILE GAME
- Fantasian
- The Genshin effect
- League of Legends: Wild Rift
- Marvel’s Future Revolution
- Pokémon Unite
BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT
- Apex Legends
- Fate 2
- Final Fantasy 14
- Fortnite
- No Man’s Sky
INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY
- Far Cry 6
- Forza Horizon 5
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- The Vale: Shadow of the Crown
BEST VR/AR
- Hitman 3
- I hope you die 2
- Lone Echo 2
- Resident Evil 4
- Sniper Elite VR
BEST ACTION GAME
- Back to 4 health
- Chivalry 2
- Deathloop
- Far Cry 6
- Profit
BEST ACTION / OFFER
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Metroid Dread
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Village
BEST ROLE GAME
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Monster Hunter Rise
- Scarlet Nexus
- Shin Megami Tensei 5
- Tales of Arise
BEST BATTLE
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hinokami Chronicles
- Guilty Gear -Strive-
- Melty Blood: Type of Lumina
- Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
- Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown
AMAZING FAMILY
- It takes two
- Mario Party Superstars
- New Pokémon Snap
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
- WarioWare: Together!
BEST SIM / STRATEGY
- Age of Empires 4
- Evil Genius 2: World Domination
- Human
- Encode
- icrosoft Flight Simulator
BEST SPORTS / RACE
- F1 2021
- FIFA 22
- Forza Horizon 5
- Hot Wheels Unleashed
- Riders Republic
BEST MULTIPLAYER
- Back to 4 health
- Knockout City
- It takes two
- Monster Hunter Rise
- New world
- Valheim
CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR
- DREAM
- fuslie
- Gaules
- Ibai
- Grefg
BEST WOMEN’S INDIE
- Artistic escape
- The Forgotten City
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Black
- Valheim
MOST PROTECTED GAMES
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Forbidden Horizon in the West
- Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Starfield
BEST SPECIAL GAMES
- Call of Duty
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Dota 2
- League of Legends
- Valuable substance
BEST SPECIAL ATHLETE
- Chris “Simp” Lehr
- Pig “ShowMaker” Su
- Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov
- Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
- Tyson “TenZ” Ngo
BEST SPECIAL GROUP
- Atlanta FaZe (Call of Duty)
- DWG KIA (League of Legends)
- Natus Vincere (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
- Sentinels (Fragrance)
- Team Spirit (DOTA 2)
BEST SPECIAL CONTROLLER
- Airat “Silent” Gaziev
- Andrey “Engh” Sholokhov
- Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi
- James “Crowder” Crowder
- Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun
BEST SPECIAL EVENT
- 2021 League of Legends World Championship
- PGL Major Stockholm 2021
- The International 2021
- PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2020
- VALORANT Champions Tour: Stage 2 Master
