Everything announced at The Game Awards 2024

And we're off! We've still got some time until the show kicks off so if you've not done that run to the shop to stock up on snacks, now is the time.

We're due to get a "full world premiere reveal" of Mafia: The Old Country at the big show, though a YouTube ad may have given away the release window. Interestingly, if that window turns out to be true, then the game might not be too far away from another Take-Two published game, GTA 6.

Before we continue, here are the nominees from all the major categories.

Game of the Year

• Astro Bot
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio

Why yes, that is Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree among the gang. A first for The Game Awards, expansions and the like are up for the top prize this year.

Best Game Direction

• Astro Bot
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio

Best Narrative

• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Metaphor: ReFantanzio
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade II
• Silent Hill 2

Best Art Direction

• Astro Bot
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Neva

Best Score And Music

• Astro Bot
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Silent Hill 2
• Stellar Blade

Best Audio Design

• Astro Bot
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
• Silent Hill 2

Best Performance

• Briana White, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Hannah Telle, Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Humberly González, Star Wars Outlaws
• Luke Roberts, Silent Hill 2
• Melina Juergens, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2

Innovation In Accessibility

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Diablo 4
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
• Star Wars Outlaws

Games for Impact

• Indika
• Neva
• Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2
• Tales of Kenzera: Zau
• Closer the Distance

Best Ongoing

• Destiny 2
• Diablo 4
• Final Fantasy 14
• Fortnite
• Helldivers 2

Best Community Support

• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Final Fantasy 14
• Fortnite
• Helldivers 2
• No Man’s Sky

Best Independent Game

• Animal Well
• Balatro
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
• Neva
• UFO 50

Best Debut Indie Game

• Animal Well
• Balatro
• Manor Lords
• Pacific Drive
• The Plucky Squire

Best Mobile Game

• AFK Journey
• Balatro
• Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket
• Wuthering Waves
• Zenless Zone Zero

Best VR/AR Game

• Arizona Sunshine Remake
• Asgard's Wrath 2
• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Metal: Hellsinger VR
• Metro Awakening

Best Action Game

• Black Myth: Wukong
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Helldivers 2
• Stellar Blade
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Best Action / Adventure Game

• Astro Bot
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
• Silent Hill 2
• Star Wars Outlaws
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Best RPG

• Dragon’s Dogma 2
• Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio

Best Fighting Game

• Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero
• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
• Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
• MultiVersus
• Tekken 8

Best Family Game

• Astro Bot
• Princess Peach: Showtime
• Super Mario Party Jamboree
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• The Plucky Squire

Best Sim / Strategy Game

• Age of Mythology: Retold
• Frostpunk 2
• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
• Manor Lords
• Unicorn Overlord

Best Sports / Racing

• F1 24
• EA Sports FC 25
• NBA 2K25
• Top Spin 2K25
• WWE 2K24

Best Multiplayer

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Helldivers 2
• Super Mario Party Jamboree
• Tekken 8
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Best Adaptation

• Arcane
• Fallout
• Knuckles
• Like a Dragon: Yakuza
• Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

Most Anticipated Game

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yōtei
• GTA 6
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
• Monster Hunter Wilds

Content Creator of the Year

• CaseOh
• IlloJuan
• Techno Gamerz
• TypicalGamer
• Usada Pekora

Best Esports Game

• Counter-Strike 2
• DOTA 2
• League of Legends
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
• Valorant

Best Esports Athlete

• Neta '33' Shapira (DOTA 2)
• Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen (Counter-Strike 2)
• Jeong 'Chovy' Ji-hoon (League of Legends)
• Lee 'Faker' Sang-hyeok (League of Legends)
• Mathieu 'ZyWoO' Herbaut (Counter-Strike 2)
• Zheng 'ZmjjKk' Yongkang (Valorant)

Best Esports Team

• Bilibili Gaming (League of Legends)
• Gen.G (League of Legends)
• NAVI (Counter-Strike)
• T1 (League of Legends)
• Team Liquid (DOTA 2)

Players' Voice

• Black Myth: Wukong
• Genshin Impact
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Wuthering Waves
• Zenless Zone Zero

Phew! After going over all the nominees, you can see why The Game Awards last as long as they do - especially when you factor in the musical acts and trailers. If you haven't been counting, Astro Bot and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth lead on nominations with seven each. Then you've got Metaphor: ReFantazio with six, and so on.

As for who the big winners might be, FF7 Rebirth and Helldivers 2 won big at this year's Golden Joysticks, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the same here. Mind you, Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is running in more categories here, so that'll likely influence how it all plays out. As ever, we need only wait and see.

If you're looking for something a wee bit different from The Game Awards, an indie is kicking off The Game Awards for Games Who Can't Afford the Game Awards tomorrow. The show will spotlight over 70 indie games across various genres and hand out some very serious awards – like the 'Most Likely to Make You Quit Your Job and Become an Artist' prize. Serious business.

Back to the actual Game Awards, one game we know we're seeing is Borderlands 4. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford initially told us all about the new trailer sooner than he was allowed to, but has since shared more – with The Game Awards' blessing, we presume. Expect "a lot of in-game footage" and "a sick, never-before-seen original cinematic sequence" that'll bridge the gap between Borderlands 3.

One of tonight's award nominees has made a pre-show announcement, and, well, I think it's best you just watch the clip.

Now that we're getting closer to the show, more teases are rolling in. In fact, Sifu developer SlowClap says "expect to be surprised." What could the team be cooking?

We're getting to see some Game Awards royalty tonight as It Takes Two director Josef Fares is popping up to reveal his next game and hopefully say something on camera he shouldn't.

"A lot of people say I'm cocky, but it's impossible to not be cocky when you have a game like this in front of you," he says. "I'm telling you. You will see what I mean when you play it."

I don't know when we'll actually play what the team is working on, but it sounds like we'll certainly be seeing it in a few hours time.

I don't know about you, but I'm personally interested in the game reveals that we don't know about yet. Partly because I'm nosy, but also because Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has said on Kinda Funny Games Daily that “there are at least two things that will make you guys, reacting, say ‘holy shit, I can’t believe it’s here.'"

What's excellent news for a few fandoms likely means three-inch deep clown makeup for everyone else, but I am ready.

And now, a changing of the guard! A fond farewell to deputy news editor Iain Harris as he departs for a much-deserved rest.

I (US managing editor Rollin Bishop) will be your guide into the depths of The Game Awards proper from here on in. Get comfy; we've got some ways to go yet as the preshow proper doesn't even start for nearly three hours yet.

In a clearly important update deserving of its own entry, Final Fantasy 16's Ben Starr will be in attendance at The Game Awards tonight. He also appears to have learned his lesson.

Just under two hours left! Not long now. How we feeling out there?

In a somewhat shocking turn of events, it actually feels like Ole Geoff has managed to keep a pretty tight lid on things this year. It's at this point in the night, I feel, that I'd usually be perusing a hefty list of leaks. Not this time! Neither the same quantity nor quality seem to be making the rounds. At least there's something to be said for surprises, assuming there are some good ones.

Maybe I've jinxed it at this point? Though there's really not that much time left to have something really spicy make the rounds. Given all of the moving parts, it's genuinely kind of impressive that nothing major has had anything more than wild, speculative rumors.

I am also, however, fully prepared to find a hat to eat if the deeply unserious rumors about a Half-Life 3 announcement turn out to be real.

Less than an hour to go! Still time to get in some absolutely wild predictions. Death Stranding 4? Unicorn Overlord DLC? The Last of Us 3? Maybe Lethal Company will add Geoff as an NPC.

Also, there's Steam drops this year! For No Man's Sky and Helldivers 2, if you're fancy like that.

Just 15 minutes to go before The Game Awards 2024 starts in earnest! Reminder that this thing is actually several hours long, so get your snacks and drinks now. And, you know, maybe use the bathroom. It's good to be prepared.

Game File's Stephen Totilo is reporting that winners tonight will be given a whopping "45 seconds to make their acceptance speeches" as opposed to what was apparently "about 30" previously. Time will tell, I guess! And folks will be told on time.

As noted by staff writer Dustin Bailey (in the strictest confidence), this pre-roll music ahead of the preshow is way too stressful.

And here we (preshow) go...

Sydnee Goodman is here to introduce the preshow and stress just how this is an "extension" of the regular show because of how busy and packed it is! Starts off by talking about Snoop Dogg performing, which, sure.

Game from The Game Kitchen is up first here. Is that... Shinobi? (I'm bad at recognizing ninja games.)

I am being told this is "Ninja ****in Gaiden man," which, it is indeed! Ninja Gaiden Ragebound is the title. Coming Summer 2025 from publisher Dotemu.

And we have our first winner too! The award for Best Fighting Game goes to Bandai Namco's Tekken 8! Katsuhiro Harada is up to talk about updates and says not to ask him for "beeeeep."

We got a new cozy game here. One Move Away, coming 2025. Seems to be... about packing a car? Got a nice little aesthetic to it with strong colors.

Slay the Spire 2 looking good! Lord, let this release soon. All the classic deckbuilding seems to be here with some new doodads and classes. The art is quite similar to the original. First look at gameplay here, coming to early access in 2025.

And another award! Batman: Arkham Shadow picks up Best AR/VR Game. Not exactly shocking. The developers thank the voice cast and others. Good for them!

And now some look into Treesplease Games (if I caught the name correctly.) Talking about climate collapse, using games for creating awareness. The dev's game Longleaf Valley is about restoring and saving a national park, which actually translates to... planting actual trees? Neat!

New Dave the Diver DLC! Expansion? Dave the Dive In the Jungle. Game's good; always happy to have more of a good game. Coming "Late 2025."

Warren Spector's Thick as Thieves is up! This seems to be the official reveal of what appears to be a multiplayer stealth action game about... stealing stuff. You're thieves. "Seems to be" and "official" here because we've heard about Thick as Thieves before, but this is certainly the best look yet – even if this seems to be cinematic footage rather than gameplay.

And directly into a bunch of esports awards! League of Legends takes Best Esports Game, Faker takes Best Esports Athlete, and T1 takes Best Esports Team. Not exactly shocking.

...This is the Secret Level Pac-Man? It looks like it!

Shadow Labyrinth is the official name, coming 2025. I don't know what to do with this information; I actually quite liked that episode and said as much in my Secret Level review.

An anime game for mobile from Yu Suzuki called Steel Paws! Looks neat, but hard to say... what it's about.

Another award! Games for Impact goes to Neva! Well deserved. Our Indie Spotlight coverage called it "an utterly moving and beautiful adventure."

Some quick Tales of the Shire footage, March 25, 2025. Sure looks like Tales of the Shire!

And then Stalcraft Operations! I don't... know what I was looking at beyond that it seemed to be about some kind of mining operation gone wrong. 2025 release!

Midnight Murder Club here from Velan Studios. Looks to be in the same vein as Phasmophobia or Lethal Company. Get spooked together, get murdered together. Crossplay beta available now! Early access in February 2025.

Somebody just yelled out that they love Sydnee. Good for her. I have to imagine this is a wildly stressful job.

Next award! Innovation in Accessibility. And the award goes to... Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown! Hell yeah. What a great game. Ubisoft devs accepting talk about how accessibility just reinforces a good game. "A passion project made by an incredible team."

And now something from the folks that made Core Keeper. Once again, we are digging. Looks multiplayer, kind of a bit Terraria with better lighting. Kyora, wishlist on Steam today. How greedily and deep did they delve?

Best Family Game goes to... Astro Bot! Not exactly surprising, even in a stacked category. Thanks from the folks accepting to Team Asobi. "Making a family game is important because we are forming the first gaming memories of people." Notes that it's a privilege; the award is for the kids and the parents out there.

Somehow two further World Premieres before the main show? First up: Sloclap has something to announce. It's... a soccer game? (Sorry, sorry; football. Please don't fire me, Josh.)

Rematch is the name! Summer 2025. It kind of looks like... Rocket League with no cars. I realize that's just soccer, but still. (Shoot, football. I realize that's just football.)

Last World Premiere for the preshow now! Solasta 2 featuring... I am honestly not sure what I'm looking at. A bunch of weird critters attacking a fortification. We do love an RPG! And the actual gameplay looks to be closer to Baldur's Gate 3 or Divinity Original Sin 2 than not. So, I'll take it. Early Access 2025.

That's it for the preshow! Quick, use the bathroom.

Never mind, don't use the bathroom. There's absolutely no time. Geoff Keighley takes the stage.

Because I know everyone wants to know: his shoes seem to be bedazzled. They're glittering and sparkling. Cute.

Keighley starting with basically shouting out how cool gaming and gamers are, despite the challenges. Goes over nominees, welcomes father of the PlayStation, Ken Kutaragi. Fallout and Arcane's Ella Purnell also here. And... Josef Fares.

Wow. Sooner than expected, we have The Muppets. Statler and Waldorf are giving Geoff the business and telling him to wrap it up. Topical.

I think... I love this? The most relatable trait of Geoff is his love for The Muppets.

Bethesda's Todd Howard and Troy Baker take the stage! Is Troy really tall or is Todd really small? Who can say.

Todd asks: "Troy, have you ever won this award?" And then a joke about "best Indy performance" and indie games. And now.... Harrison Ford? Contractually obligated Harrison Ford is here!

"Thank you, thank you very much. While you're on your feet, let's give a big round of applause to these guys for the Great Circle," says Ford. Compliments Troy on playing Indy, says if he'd known Troy was so good he would have done it himself.

Ford introduces the nominees for Best Performance! And the winner is... Melina Juergens, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2! I think Harrison said "Melinda," but that's fine.

Melina thanks all the nominees, team at Ninja Theory, cast, crew, stunt team. "They've all done such a great job!" Thanks collaborators and supporters. Finishes with a congrats to The Game Awards itself for 10 years. 10 years!

Geoff back on the mic! Says he traveled the world to talk with developers about what's coming next, not just next year but beyond. Introducing a game from a previous GOTY winner... "Here's a look at The Unexpected." I didn't expect that.

Someone's being given a bath. I know I joked earlier, but I can honestly say I didn't expect this. Blades are sharpened, there's a voiceover about how lovely this person is. "Today's the day... you fill out your destiny."

OH WAIT THIS IS CD PROJEKT RED? IGNORE ALL MY PREVIOUS SNARK!

Holy cow. There's a witcher! This is a witcher game? What's going on. Someone's being sacrificed. I've lost the plot a bit by being shocked at what this is and who it is from.

The previously noted witcher prevents the young girl from getting eaten, seems like. Tells her to run and tell the village; tell her father. Starts into the darkness and roots; roots and hands(?) reach out to snap her up.

And now the witcher is a'witchin'. Nice swordplay, but still gets knocked away. The beast has the advantage – a hag? But now, witcher signs and hag's on the defensive. All cinematic but still.

I mean, that's Ciri right? Whoever it is, she decapitates the hag. She returns to the village, and someone has stabbed the girl in the heart. Her father cradles her as she dies. Ciri(?) is straight up not having a good time. "There are no gods here; there are only monsters."

It is Ciri! It is The Witcher 4! Geoff confirms both! What a time to be alive.

And now: something else. Bandai Namco, "standalone" game from FromSoftware!

This kind of just... looks like more Elden Ring? Am I misremembering what Elden Ring looks like? I'm not, right? With maybe a stronger focus on multiplayer.

"Stand tall, the night is far from over" a voiceover states while big dark creatures are fought with bows and swords and magic. Also a Cerberus-lookin' dog monster. "Band together and prepare to claim the life of the Night Lord."

Elden Ring: Nightreign. Coming 2025. Nice.

No stopping now! Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is coming to PC! January 23, 2025. It's the game you know and love, but on PC.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle accolades trailer, looks like. You know what? Troy does do a good job at voicing Indy. I'll say it.

There's some kind of cat and dress up game. Catly. Like if Infinity Nikki was about pets in large part. Looks... shiny.

And now, a trailer about Path of Exile 2. Just kind of an ad as early access is available now. Sure.

Raised by Wolves and House of the Dragon's Abubakar Salim here to introduce the award for Best Action game. Cracks an admittedly pretty good joke about not crying about his dead dad – his words – this time.

And the winner is... Black Myth: Wukong! Good for them. "Thank you everyone, we are deeply honored to received this award." We gave it a 4 out of 5 in our Black Myth: Wukong review so hard to complain.

What I will complain about is the weird, high-pitched squealing that has somehow snuck into the audio mix.

Ends with a joke how the game is not hard and good for beginners. Nice.

And now, something Geoff really hyped up. A game to capture everyone's imagination. From the creator of Ico (OK Geoff you were right, fine) comes.... something. There's a weird countdown voiceover. Sci-fi vibes with someone climbing a big metallic thing. Is this a mech? Let this be a mech.

The countdown ends and the mech(?) is blasted away by... something. But the protagonist gets away, Gurren Lagann-style, but zooming off with just the head. Game is currently untitled, but... I'm into it. Gimme the mech, I'll pilot the mech. Happily.

And now we get a performance of the Civilization 7 theme! Time to crank up your speakers and hit the bathroom quickly if needed.

Music's good! But in case this isn't your thing, here's that first look at The Witcher 4 which I will be looking at again and again.

The Outer Worlds 2! Looks good. Looks like... The Outer Worlds, But More. 2025 release. Obsidian did a solid job with the original, and hopefully the sequel just... tightens things up, you know? That's all I really need.

Josef Fares is up! "This is some next-level shit!" New co-op adventure from Hazelight. Classic Josef. More curses than other words was the vibe.

Split Fiction! Seems to be a sci-fi game about two writers that can simulate their stories and bring them to life. They accidentally end up the same simulation, and they find out their stories are about to get stolen. To save them, they'll need to escape to reality by going through their own worlds. One writer does sci-fi, one does fantasy, and so... things get wild.

Each level has unique mechanics. For example, you hatch dragons that grow over time in one level to the point where you can fly them. Then there's a... well, it's a Metroid-ball level where the balls then become exosuits. Then you play as pigs which eventually apparently become sausages. Well.

Split Fiction releases March 6, 2025, which Josef says is two months from now. I'm not sure if that timeline works out. But it's close. Also, the protagonists are named after Josef's kids! Cute.

And now, an ad for Lenovo laptops, I think. I'm going to be honest, I was chuckling so hard as Josef Fares that I missed Geoff's intro to this. And now an ad for... Nintendo Switch? I think?

FragPunk gameplay trailer showing off mechanics of the cards and guns. March 6, 2025, free to play. Honestly, I love the aesthetic, but the cards seem like the sort of thing you actually need to play for yourself to understand.

And now... weird zombies? I've forgotten how long it's been since an actual award during this award show. Anyway, shooting these weird zombies in Killing Floor 3 with arrows does look satisfying.

Geoff actually address the elephant in the room! Industry-wide layoffs! "As a show, we kind of struggle how to address these struggles in a constructive way." Says they've discovered a way to tackle. Introduces TGA's "first-ever Game Changer."

Lots of folks talking about how this game changer changes the game. Amir Satvat, who leads a games community and helps folks find jobs. He's getting an award! That honestly does feels genuinely like a feel-good kind of thing. Circumstances being what they are, this is nice and earnest. "No, you're breathtaking," says Amir. Genuine chuckle from me there.

"This has serious consequences," says Amir of all the layoffs. "You can't make great games without great people." He's got a point!

Says all his life, he just wanted to be part of the games industry. "It felt a world away," he says while growing up, "but not any more."

And we're done! Now more trailers. Lots of mechs, including some bestial-looking ones? Wargaming title here. Looks a bit like Transformers meets Zoids meets Hawken. Hard to parse the gameplay from cinematics, but certainly looks interesting. I do love Pacific Rim.

Steelhunters! Not sure on the spelling; this is what they get for doing all caps. Playtest available now!

Next up: some kind of survival, exploration game? The Long Dark 2! Blackfrost is the official name, apparently. Surviving in the snow and woods and all of that. Very moody.

Randy Pitchford is here for Borderlands 4! Says we all know why he's here. I guess that's probably true. He's here for Borderlands 4! "As you wish," he says as he turns around to show a 4 on his back.

This first bit of footage in the Borderlands 4 trailer is of what looks to be mechanical Psychos? The mobs from the previous games got their hands on a buncha mechines it kind of seems like. There's a whole metallic vibe to everything. Looks like our first look at the new heroes and, of course, Claptrap.

Borderlands 4 is out 2025! And the trailer seems to be live already publicly, so that's nice.

Final Fantasy 16's Clive comes to Tekken 8 "next week." Good for him.

And now: awards from Geoff. Most Anticipated Game goes to... GTA 6. Shocker. I'm shocked.

Best Multiplayer Game goes to Helldivers 2! Best Community Support goes to Baldur's Gate 3! Once again, shocker.

Oh he's still going. Best Art Direction goes to... Metaphor: ReFantazio.

A new look at Splitgate 2 gameplay! Game's coming 2025. Portals and so on. I don't know, man. It looks like Splitgate, which was pretty all right? I'm OK with there being another one.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard accolades trailer seemed to just... be another accolades trailer? And now: more mechs! Is this Mecha Break?

It is Mecha Break! I like what I could see there when it wasn't completely obscured by particle effects. Now a trailer about how much better Star Wars Outlaws is now with updates under its belt.

A quick Fortnite ad for OG and now: a performance from Arcane, the League of Legends animated show. As a notorious Arcane liker, I'm here for this. The live version is going pretty well so far!

Having these Arcane images of young Vi and Powder projected onto the giant walls of this theater... Gosh, what a show. (Our Arcane season 2 review gave the latest episodes a 4 out of 5.)

And now, an announcement prepared just for The Game Award's 10th anniversary. Something from RGG Studio. So, something Like a Dragon? Holy wow, no, new Virtua Fighter!

"New full entry" says Geoff. There's apparently going to be a Virtua Fighter presentation tomorrow with more. What a world.

And now, something set in 1915. Is this also RGG Studio? Lots of brawling with weapons and the like. Maybe this one is Like a Dragon. (If I keep guessing Like a Dragon, I will eventually be right.) Project Century, it's called. Neat!

And Hideo Kojima is here! Geoff's bestie! "First and foremost, congratulations of TGA's 10th anniversary." How kind.

"I've had the privilege of participating since the very first TGA." Kojima goes on to talk about how it's a celebration and an event, and that TGA now serves as a bridge between entertainment mediums: film, music, and so on. "I'm looking forward to supporting that too."

Kojima is here to introduce the nominees for Best Game Direction, which makes sense. I just thought he was here to hype up Geoff. This is even better.

And the winner is... Astro Bot! "We didn't have a speech ready for you for this one," I think he just said. Actual laugh out loud from me. "You are all game directors back home," he says of the team back home. The awards chyrons move so fast that I'm lucky to even catch a partial name.

Huh. Turok Origins. Fast-paced, moody third-person shooter looks like from Saber. The gameplay is chopped up in a way that makes it difficult to tell how it actually works, but I do like what I saw.

Actual Helldivers 2 guy on stage here to canonically introduce a new announcement for the game. A new faction? Freedom's been stolen. How dare they.

Vehicles! New critters! Major update out... now? On PC and PS5. Omens of Tyranny. Gosh, this looks good. You don't have to take my word for it; watch for yourself.

Helldivers 2 - Omens of Tyranny | PS5 & PC Games - YouTube

Watch On

Warframe creative director Rebecca Ford here to introduce the last trailer for Warframe: 1999 which releases tomorrow apparently! December 13. It's a wild throwback update that looks at some of the origins of Warframe proper.

First look at new Palworld update. I don't personally world pals, but seems... neat? More critters, more weapons. More is good. Palworld Feybreak is out December 23, 2024.

And now... an anime gacha game. Wuthering Waves, I think, but honestly it could b–it's Wuthering Waves. The title just happened. Looks as good as it ever did.

And here's the "Everything's an Xbox" ad which... fine. I'm so tired. I am not currently watching this on an Xbox.

The Shovel Knight folks are here to introduce the nominees for Best Debut Indie Game. This is a shockingly competitive category, honestly.

And the winner is... Balatro! Not shocking. Similarly, not shocking, and not shocking to see Wout accepting the award instead of LocalThunk. The dev, through Wout, thanks all of the other nominees. There's a joke about giving the award away to Arco.

And now, something from Capcom. Looks like more Nioh? Onimusha Way of the Sword! Lots of sword action. 2026.

And now, the Russos are here for an update on The First Berserker: Khazan. The trailer is dark and moody and already kind of bloody? A lot is going on here. Lots of fighting and blood and I've sort of lost the plot. March 27, 2025 release date.

A new stylish anime-inspired game set in the world of Dungeon & Fighter, called Arad. Seems a bit like Genshin Impact mixed with Granblue Fantasy? Honestly, not terrible influences. Lots of slick combat and designs.

A new look at Dying Light: The Beast. Some kind of experimentation is happening while a dude waxes poetic about "divine calling" and the like. Classic. But I suspect that experiment might gone wrong! First-person gameplay exploring deeply spooky, uninhabited areas filled with angry-looking zombies. Coming Summer 2025.

More awards! Best Action/Adventure Game goes to Astro Bot! Best RPG goes to Metaphor: ReFantazio! Content Creator of the Year goes to Caseoh! Best Sports/Racing Game goes to... EA Sports FC 25. Oh lord he's still going. Best Sim/Strategy Game is Frostpunk 2.

Statler and Waldorf are back honestly... doing some good bits about commercials whether Kojima knows he is also friends with Geoff. Immediately segueing into: another trailer from Crytek with... Post Malone? I think.

Post Malone's Murder Circus. It was Post Malone. I'm going to need... some time to process that. Anyway, it's for Hunt: Showdown, I guess?

An ad for EA saying happy holidays followed by Meta wanting people to buy the Quest 3 followed by Fortnite once again. Hyping up the Ballistic mode this time.

Netflix's Squid Game is here. This is awkward. This looks to be in support of the mobile game, which releases December 17. The song – you know the one – and the dudes in the uniforms and everything. Squid Game Unleased releases December 17 while Squid Game season 2 hits Netflix on December 26, 2024.

Snoop Dogg is here to talk about nominees for Best Ongoing Game. Sure. My eyes hurt.

"Man, them is some dope-*** trailers," he says after the nominees are revealed. "I don't have a game, cuz. Yet," he notes when someone shouts about him winning. But Helldivers 2 ultimately takes the win! "Well, I did not expect that," Mikael Eriksson, who is accepting for Arrowhead, says.

"We are very committed to keep going with this game for many years to come," he says. Probably a lot of folks excited to hear that! Fortnite Festival shoutout, then talk of Snoop returning later to play music.

And now: something new and charming from the folks that made Overcooked. Kind of unclear what's going on, but apparently the screen is split and different puzzles can be solved by folks on either side. Stage Fright, the game is called. "This would have never happened at E3" from one of the characters earned a solid chuckle from me.

A Game of Thrones game from Netmarble (which almost certainly means mobile) featuring characters like Jon Snow as well as what appears to be some new folks fighting the creatures from beyond The Wall. "Like it or not, winter is coming," says Snow. Releasing in 2025. Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is the name.

A trailer for Monster Hunter Now Season 4. I don't know, man.

Double Dragon: Revive looks solid in a new trailer, but not much to really hype up. Looks like a new 3D brawlers! Releasing October 23, 2025.

And now, something distinctly anime where a big bug literally ate someone's head. But don't worry! The king of the humans is here to duke it out! "Arise," he says, and a bunch of monsters join his ranks. This is a Solo Leveling game apparently?

And now, a wild-looking racing game! Screamer, out 2026. Seems a bit anime, a bit Road Rash. Into it.

Last of Us Part 2 Remastered comes to PC on April 3, 2025. Looks like Last of Us Part 2, but remastered!

The two Last of Us Dinas, Isabela Merced and Shannon Woodward, are here to do a bit about both being Dina before introducing the nominees for Best Adaptation.

And the award goes to... Fallout! Jonathan Nolan talks, pokes fun at how he was prepared to heckle Ella Purnell about winning for Arcane instead. "Thank the fans of Fallout: New Vegas for not burning my house to the ground." Thanks Todd, everyone else involved. Mr. Todd Howard also thanks everyone and then Jonathan Nolan – then everyone that's worked on the games.

Den of Wolves gameplay up next! Looks like folks doing all sorts of fixer jobs. First-person shooting, busting into vaults. Looks pretty hectic and fast-paced. Developed by 10 Chambers and the designer of original Payday. Early access... 202... something? Kind of a tease.

Zenless Zone Zero trailer showcasing a new characters followed by Honkai: Star Rail covering an upcoming update. Hoyoverse certainly isn't just sitting on its hands. Very pretty, but hard to tell what's going on if you aren't already familiar with these games. "Amphoreous: The Eternal Land." All right.

And now, Snoop Dogg is back to perform just like Geoff said he would! And so he is. 45 minutes or so left, folks.

Here's that Last of Us Part 2 Remastered for PC announce if you're not one for music.

You know what? That was pretty good. I didn't think it was going to be bad but the musical breaks are always exceedingly strange at The Game Awards. I love music! But it always sticks out here.

"We are far from done!" says Keighley. Geoff, please. I have a family, Geoff.

Ads for, in this order: Lego Fortnite Odyssey, Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, PC Game Pass, Batman: Arkham: Shadow. Then Amazon itself for deals. Then nominees for Best Score and Music! An award, as a little treat.

And the winner is... Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth! Naoki Hamaguchi is here to accept. "Thank you so much everyone... I'm so excited, I have no words."

Thanks the team for all of their work and how it's an honor to accept the award. "This is my very first time attending The Game Awards here today, and I am so honored and pleased to receive this award." Talks about being pleased to announce the PC version.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds... exists! Brief trailer showing Shadow in a car. Sure, yes. I'll play that.

Mafia: The Old Country trailer! Some stabbing, some talking. It pretty much... looks like Mafia in Italy? That's what it is, right?

Awards! They happen! Best Independent Game goes to Balatro. Best Mobile Game goes to... Balatro. Best Audio Design goes to Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. Still more! Players' Voice goes to Black Myth: Wukong.

Infinity Nikki is here now to show... gameplay set to the game's intro song? I've not played a ton of the game quite yet, but I recognize a lot of this already. Some of the intro cutscene bits are here but at different times?

More ads! Mafia, the franchise, is on sale. Something about Steam Deck, Google Play Games coming to PC. In beta, that last one. Seamlessly sync across mobile and PC!

Aaron Paul and Laura Bailey are here. They're doing a bit where Paul is hyping up how cool Bailey is, which she is. She calls him Evan, says everyone loved The Wire. "That's TV, and this... is video games, OK? This is art." Laura... Thank you.

New world premiere trailer about a washed-up superhero that loses his mech and has to play dispatch for other heroes. Some fun animation, something of a visual novel? Game's officially called Dispatch, from Adhoc, the dev made up of former Telltale folks. I would like to buy this now, please.

Sam Lake is here to both 1) do a bit in black and white where he's thinking about the nominees for Best Narrative and 2) how he felt the urge to dance.

And the winner is... Metaphor: ReFantazio! What a night for this (and Balatro) this is turning out to be. "I think storytelling is a really important part of games." Nice.

Geoff is really hyping this next thing up. I privately speculated "Half-Life 3?" before the big drum came out and... well, it's probably not Half-Life 3.

Holy hell it's an Okami sequel! With Hideki Kamiya! My lord. Lordy lordy lordy. Need to run around the house real quick. New studio for Kamiya, Clovers.

Yes, yes, more of Crimson Desert from Pearl Abyss. Great graphics, flying dragons, coming late 2025. I'm struggling to recover from the Okami sequel reveal.

Fortnite ad. Then more Statler and Waldorf. Doing jokes about games. Complaining about how long the show is. "Look at him just standing there!" they say of Geoff... just standing there.

Geoff is getting very emotional about the industry and awards. But also: here's the Okami sequel trailer.

Okami sequel - Project Teaser Trailer - YouTube

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Geoff is really hyping up this last world premiere. Don't let me down, Keighley. The teaser starts with floating in space, broken moon of some kind. Cut to a Porsche spaceship, anime on TV. Someone is shaving their head.

There's a call on the TVs. There's some kind of tracking being down to a planet where nobody leaves. "He's not worth it," the person on the TV says. This... looks like an original IP? Geoff said that, right?

Lots of brands here. Porsche, Adidas, Sony. Looks like this is the new Naughty Dog?? First-party Sony! Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Our friend taking the contract fights a machine-looking thing with a wild-looking sword. Neil Druckmann directed, score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Wild times.

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet - Announcement Trailer | PS5 Games - YouTube

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Swen Vincke is here to hand out Game of the Year. He makes some strong comments about making games and people who make them loving games, respecting players, and not looking for a quick buck. Also, more than one mention of talking longer here because he could and cashing in his credits from last year.

And now: a lovely medley celebrating all of the GOTY nominees. Can you keep a secret? This is maybe my favorite thing from The Game Awards so far this year.

And the winner of Game of the Year is... Astro Bot! Sebastian Brueckner, Nicolas Doucet, Junko Sano, and Masayuki Yamada take the stage to accept.

"It was just about the kids, especially. We had the huge privilege of potentially be the first game in the hands of children." Thanks entire Asobi team, people that believed in Astro as a character. Thanks everyone that helped celebrate 30 years. Talks about platformers over history, manages to not say the word "Nintendo" while absolutely talking about and paying tribute to Nintendo.

...and that's it! It's over. For a 10th anniversary show, it really felt like it, huh? Also: please let The Muppets roast Geoff every year.