The Game Awards 2020
The Game Awards 2020 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2020. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, and took place on December 10, 2020. The preshow ceremony was hosted by Sydnee Goodman. Unlike previous Game Awards, the show was broadcast virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic; Keighley presented at a soundstage in Los Angeles, while musical performances took place virtually at stages in London and Tokyo. The show introduced the award's first Future Class, a list of individuals from the video game industry who best represent the future of video games, Innovation in Accessibility award, an award for games that featured notable accessibility options. The show was live streamed across 45 different platforms. It featured musical performances from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Eddie Vedder, and presentations from celebrity guests, including Reggie Fils-Aimé, Gal Gadot, Brie Larson, and Keanu Reeves.
The Last of Us Part II received eleven nominations and seven wins—the most in the show's history to date—and was awarded Game of the Year. Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross won Best Narrative for their work on the game, while Laura Bailey was awarded Best Performance for her role as Abby. Several new games were announced, including Ark II, Perfect Dark, and an untitled Mass Effect game. The show was the most expensive ceremony to date. It was viewed by over 83 million streams, the most in its history to date, with 8.3 million concurrent viewers at its peak. It received a mixed reception from media publications, with praise directed at new game announcements, and criticism for not allowing developers more time to speak. Some critics and viewers shared concerns over the success of The Last of Us Part II due to its developer's crunch practices.
Background
As with previous iterations of The Game Awards, the 2020 show was hosted and produced by Canadian games journalist Geoff Keighley. He returned as an executive producer alongside Kimmie Kim, and Richard Preuss and LeRoy Bennett returned as director and creative director, respectively. Sydnee Goodman returned as host of the preshow. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Keighley did not want to host a normal ceremony. Not wanting to take a hiatus and inspired by the success of Summer Game Fest, he considered hosting from his home but his board urged him to attempt a larger show on par with previous years. In case of a significant surge of COVID-19 cases in California, the crew had several back-up plans, including broadcasting from Keighley's house. He worked with his partners to develop a virtual show; he and his team took inspiration from other shows throughout the year, including the Democratic National Convention, in which the "audience" was featured on virtual screens, as well as the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, wherein the hosts were isolated on stage and the winners accepted via video call.The presentation used three soundstages in Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo; each had minimal attendees, mostly related to production crew and presenters. Keighley said this allowed them to include additional presentation events as with past shows, as well as explore taking future shows to different venues. The 2020 show—featuring a production of more than 400 people, six of whom are full-time employees—had a budget of under and was the most expensive to date, partly due to the COVID-19 tests required for the crew and the worldwide remote camera set-ups. It remained profitable due to revenue from advertisers and sponsors, as well as minor earnings from streaming services. The show's theme was strength and comfort due to the impact of the pandemic. Keighley wanted to implore the theme of unity, given the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in November 2020; he cited The Game Awards 2018 as an example of this theme, which had led with Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aimé, Microsoft's Phil Spencer, and Sony's Shawn Layden sharing the stage. Keighley felt the inclusion of film and television stars was an interesting way to show a wider appreciation for the industry. His team wanted to include Henry Cavill in the show, but he was busy working on The Witcher.
While developing the show, Keighley spoke to hundreds of viewers via Zoom to discuss their own interests, often alongside industry figures like Valve Corporation president Gabe Newell and Epic Games creative director Donald Mustard. As with the previous show, the presentation ran alongside the Game Festival, consisting of playable demos and additional in-game content. The show introduced the award's first Future Class, a list of individuals from across the video game industry who best represent the future of video games. The inductees included industry professionals such as Kinda Funny's Blessing Adeoye Jr., Naughty Dog's Halley Gross, and GameSpot Kallie Plagge. The presentation was aired on December 10, 2020, live streamed across more than 45 online platforms. It aired on more than ten networks in China, including Bilibili, Douyin, and Huya Live, and on several networks in India including Disney+ Hotstar, JioTV, and MX Player.
Announcements
Around April and May in 2020, Keighley was worried about a potential lack of game announcements due to the impact of COVID-19 on the industry; however, several developers were able to submit their announcements and trailers for demonstration. Announcements on recently released and upcoming games were made for:- Among Us
- Back 4 Blood
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Disco Elysium
- Dragon Age 4
- Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
- Fortnite
- Forza Horizon 4
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- It Takes Two
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Monster Hunter Rise
- Myst
- Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139...
- Oddworld: Soulstorm
- Outriders
- Overcooked! All You Can Eat
- Returnal
- Scarlet Nexus
- Scavengers
- Sea of Solitude
- Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge
- Super Meat Boy Forever
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
- Warframe
- Ark II
- The Callisto Protocol
- Century: Age of Ashes
- Crimson Desert
- Endless Dungeon
- Evil Dead: The Game
- Evil West
- F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch
- Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection
- Just Cause Mobile
- Loop Hero
- Untitled Mass Effect game
- Open Roads
- Perfect Dark
- Road 96
- Season: A Letter to the Future
- Shady Part of Me
- Tchia
- ''We Are OFK''
Winners and nominees
Awards
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger.Video games
Esports and creators
| |
Games with multiple nominations and awards
Multiple nominations
The Last of Us Part II received eleven nominations, the most in the show's history to date. Other games with multiple nominations included Hades with nine, Ghost of Tsushima with eight, Final Fantasy VII Remake with six, and Doom Eternal with five. Sony Interactive Entertainment had 26 total nominations, more than any other publisher, followed by Supergiant Games and Xbox Game Studios with eight.| Nominations | Game |
| 11 | The Last of Us Part II |
| 9 | Hades |
| 8 | Ghost of Tsushima |
| 6 | Final Fantasy VII Remake |
| 5 | Doom Eternal |
| 4 | Fall Guys |
| 4 | Half-Life: Alyx |
| 3 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons |
| 3 | Fortnite |
| 3 | Ori and the Will of the Wisps |
| 3 | Spider-Man: Miles Morales |
| 3 | Valorant |
| 2 | Among Us |
| 2 | Apex Legends |
| 2 | Assassin's Creed Valhalla |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Warzone |
| 2 | Carrion |
| 2 | Destiny 2 |
| 2 | Genshin Impact |
| 2 | No Man's Sky |
| 2 | Spiritfarer |
| Nominations | Publisher |
| 26 | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| 9 | Supergiant Games |
| 9 | Xbox Game Studios |
| 6 | Activision |
| 6 | Devolver Digital |
| 6 | Nintendo |
| 6 | Square Enix |
| 5 | Bethesda Softworks |
| 5 | Riot Games |
| 5 | Valve |
| 4 | Electronic Arts |
| 3 | Capcom |
| 3 | Epic Games |
| 3 | Sega |
| 3 | Ubisoft |
| 2 | - |
| 2 | 2K Games |
| 2 | Annapurna Interactive |
| 2 | Bandai Namco |
| 2 | Bungie |
| 2 | Codemasters |
| 2 | Hello Games |
| 2 | Innersloth |
| 2 | miHoYo |
| 2 | Thunder Lotus Games |