It"s nearing the end of the year, and for many fans of console, PC, VR, and mobile games, that means one thing; we are about to get some major new announcements. Of course, we are referring to the 2023 Game Awards. The live-streaming event happens later today, December 7 for its 10th anniversary. It has become perhaps the single biggest event for new game reveals, trailers, and other surprises in the industry.
Oh, and there are actual awards that will be given out during the show. Sometimes it does feel that the awards themselves are a little bit of an afterthought compared to the game announcements, but make no mistake; they have also turned into the most notable awards game developers, publishers and others can win in the game industry.
Here"s when and how you can watch the 2023 Game Awards live, info on the nominees for the actual awards, and some hints as to what game reveals and surprises might be in store.
What is the 2023 Game Awards?
The Game Awards is a streaming exclusive awards ceremony that is now in its 10th year. Organized by noted game journalist and host Geoff Keighley, it not only gives out awards for the past year in the games industry, it also doubles as a way for game publishers to make some major reveals and surprises.
When can I watch the 2023 Game Awards?
The streaming event begins with a 30-minute pre-show, hosted by Sydnee Goodman, beginning at 7:30 pm Eastern time (4:30 pm Pacific) where some of the smaller award categories, and some game reveals, will be shown. The main event, hosted by Keighley, begins at 8 pm Eastern time (5 pm Pacific). That part of the show should last between 2 to 2 1/2 hours so bring snacks if you are live streaming from home.
How can I watch the 2023 Game Awards?
The event is being held at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles to a live audience. Sorry; tickets for the event sold out weeks ago. However, the show will be available for streaming from a number of different outlets. They include the official Game Awards YouTube Channel. the Game Awards Twitch channel, and the show"s many social media accounts like X, TikTok, Facebook and others. The show will also be co-streamed by several major gaming and media outlets, along with popular gaming influencers.
What games have been nominated for the 2023 Game Awards?
The award nominees themselves, which were picked by over 100 gaming media outlets, were announced a few weeks ago. Remedy"s Alan Wake 2 and Larian"s Baldur"s Gate 3, got the most nominations with eight each. You can check out the full list of nominees here, but the games picked for Game of the Year consideration are:
- Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
- Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
- Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
What can we expect in terms of game reveals at the 2023 Game Awards?
The truth is that Keighley and the other organizers of the Game Awards usually do a pretty good job at keeping the big secrets until they are revealed during the event. That being said; here are some of the hints and reveals we do have a little concrete info about:
- Microsoft, which mostly didn"t participate in the 2022 Game Awards, has confirmed it will make some "Xbox announcements" today during the awards.
- The launch date for the Xbox Series X|S version of Baldur"s Gate 3 will be revealed during the awards.
- The first gameplay trailer for the Rocket Racing in-game experience in Fortnite will be shown during the event.
- Sega has . . . something to reveal at the show, with the teaser message "New Era, New Energy".
- There will be something shown about the upcoming Dead by Daylight spinoff game from Supermassive Games at the event.
- Game developer Sharkmod will show off a trailer for an all new game during the awards.
- The gameplay launch trailer for the Meta Quest VR game Asgard’s Wrath 2, will debut during the event.
- There will be news about Metaphor: ReFantazio, the upcoming fantasy RPG from Atlus at the show.
- Red Barrels, the developer of The Outlast Trials, will make some kind of reveal at the awards.
- Digital Extremes will have a reveal about the new Warfare update Whisper in the Woods, at the event.
There are also a number of unconfirmed rumors about what might be revealed at the 2023 Game Awards, but since many of them usually turn out to be false we won"t be commenting on them.
What else happens during the 2023 Game Awards?
Lots, actually. You can expect celebrity presenters for the various awards, special musical performances, and giveaways for Steam Deck OLED PCs, the Lenovo Legion Go, and a high end AMD gaming PC from Maingear. You can also expect special sales events on Steam and other digital game stores during the Game Awards.