The Game Awards 2021: start times, where to watch and nominees
Will Keighley reprise his Muppets Haunted Mansion role?
Geoff Keighley’s annual Game Awards show kicks off this evening, with lots of awards to dish out and plenty of (in your best announcer voice) world premieres. Deathloop currently leads the pack of nominees, but Psychonauts 2 and PlayStation exclusive Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart have also scooped up plenty of nominations. Who will win the public vote? Whether you're here to see your favourite games win those big golden trophies or you’re just here for the big reveals, you’ll want to know how to watch The Game Awards, what time it starts and all the nominees. Luckily, we have all the details right here.
When are The Game Awards 2021?
The Game Awards 2021 show takes place today, Thursday 9th December (or Friday 10th depending on where you live). You can find the exact start time in your time zone below:
- West Coast US: Thursday, December 9th, 5pm PST
- East Coast US: Thursday, December 9th, 8pm EST
- UK: Friday, December 10th, 1am GMT
How to watch The Game Awards 2021
The event will stream across various video platforms, including YouTube and Twitch. These streams are scheduled to begin half an hour earlier than the times listed above. Based on previous Game Award pre-shows, there are likely to be some juicy news announcements hidden away in here, but the big announcements will likely be reserved for the main show. The main Game Awards show will last 3 hours, taking us UK folk into the early hours of the morning.
Will The Game Awards 2021 have any big reveals?
You might be mistaken for thinking The Game Awards are just about, well, awards. There are also lots of announcements about upcoming games, with previous years showing off the Perfect Dark reboot, The Wolf Among Us 2, and the Xbox Series X.
There are plenty of hints starting to slip out that point to some announcements we should expect this year. This Twitter exchange between Keighley and the official Sonic account indicates we could see more on the upcoming Sonic game, while this tweet from Xbox Game Pass also teases that we can expect to see plenty of Game Pass PC Day One launches announced at The Game Awards.
I'm going to keep my expectations relatively low for all of this so that I'm pleasantly surprised by any big reveals. My one big prediction at every major event for the past few years has been something Fable related, but Microsoft answered that wish with their teaser at E3 2020. So, Fable gameplay trailer please? Now that I’m part of the RPS treehouse, you can all witness my regular attempts to summon some kind of Fable announcement and the immense disappointment when I inevitably have to wait another year.
Who are The Game Awards 2021 Nominations?
As mentioned above, Deathloop has the most nominations at The Game Awards 2021, but there are lots of other titles up for consideration across every category. Psychonauts 2 and It Takes Two both bagged 5 nominations each, while Resident Evil Village is up for 4 awards. I recently gushed over Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy for the RPS Advent Calendar and it seems the Game Awards jury were equally impressed, as it also bagged 4 nominations. You can see the full list of nominees 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 DIRECTION
- Deathloop
- It Takes Two
- Returnal
- 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 DIRECTION
- The Artful Escape
- Deathloop
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
BEST SCORE AND MUSIC
- The Artful Escape
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Deathloop
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139
BEST AUDIO DESIGN
- Deathloop
- Forza Horizon 5
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Village
- Returnal
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)
GAMES FOR IMPACT
- Before Your Eyes
- Boyfriend Dungeon
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale
- Life is Strange: True Colors
- No Longer Home
BEST ONGOING
- Apex Legends
- Final Fantasy XIV Online
- Fortnite
- Genshin Impact
- Call of Duty: Warzone
BEST INDIE
- 12 Minutes
- Death’s Door
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Inscryption
- Loop Hero
BEST MOBILE GAME
- Fantasian
- Genshin Impact
- League of Legends: Wild Rift
- Marvel Future Revolution
- Pokémon Unite
BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT
- Apex Legends
- Destiny 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 Expect You to Die 2
- Lone Echo 2
- Resident Evil 4
- Sniper Elite VR
BEST ACTION GAME
- Back 4 Blood
- Chivalry 2
- Deathloop
- Far Cry 6
- Returnal
BEST ACTION / ADVENTURE
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Metroid Dread
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Village
BEST ROLE PLAYING
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Monster Hunter Rise
- Scarlet Nexus
- Shin Megami Tensei 5
- Tales of Arise
BEST FIGHTING
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles
- Guilty Gear -Strive-
- Melty Blood: Type Lumina
- Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
- Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown
BEST FAMILY
- It Takes Two
- Mario Party Superstars
- New Pokémon Snap
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
- WarioWare: Get It Together!
BEST SIM / STRATEGY
- Age of Empires 4
- Evil Genius 2: World Domination
- Humankind
- Inscryption
- icrosoft Flight Simulator
BEST SPORTS / RACING
- F1 2021
- FIFA 22
- Forza Horizon 5
- Hot Wheels Unleashed
- Riders Republic
BEST MULTIPLAYER
- Back 4 Blood
- Knockout City
- It Takes Two
- Monster Hunter Rise
- New World
- Valheim
CONTENT CREATOR OF THE YEAR
- DREAM
- fuslie
- Gaules
- Ibai
- Grefg
BEST DEBUT INDIE
- The Artful Escape
- The Forgotten City
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Sable
- Valheim
MOST ANTICIPATED GAME
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- The Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Starfield
BEST ESPORTS GAMES
- Call of Duty
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Dota 2
- League of Legends
- Valorant
BEST ESPORTS ATHLETE
- Chris "Simp" Lehr
- Heo "ShowMaker" Su
- Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov
- Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev
- Tyson "TenZ" Ngo
BEST ESPORTS TEAM
- Atlanta FaZe (Call of Duty)
- DWG KIA (League of Legends)
- Natus Vincere (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
- Sentinels (Valorant)
- Team Spirit (DOTA 2)
BEST ESPORTS COACH
- Airat "Silent" Gaziev
- Andrey "Engh" Sholokhov
- Andrii "B1ad3" Horodenskyi
- James "Crowder" Crowder
- Kim "kkOma" Jeong-gyun
BEST ESPORTS 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