Update: The Game Awards 2020 has ended, but we’re delivering a recap of the biggest announcements (so many game reveals) and embedding the full video replay in case you want the rewatch to see which games won. The Game of the Year winner got the GotY award is below, too.
The only way to watch The Game Awards this year was through the live stream video we embedded below because the 2020 presentation didn’t happen in person.
We followed the Geoff Keighley-hosted award show – now in its seventh year. Our live updates are offering a recap in case you missed the start of the live stream.
Get the best Xbox Series X deals before anyone else!
We’ll send you pre-order details and the best Xbox Series X deals as soon as they’re available.
Send me details about other relevant products from Techradar and other Future brands.
Send me details about other relevant products from third parties.
No spam, we promise. You can unsubscribe at any time and we’ll never share your details without your permission.
The Game Awards recap of announcements
As you can see above, The Game Awards is more than ‘the Oscars for video games’. It’s like the Oscars combined with a game trailers marathon.
The real reason to watch The Game Awards is to see the epic game (and sometimes hardware) reveals that happen in between the award segments. It makes TGAs must-see TV – or must-live-stream online video.
Watch The Game Awards full video replay
You don’t have to travel far to watch The Game Awards. In fact, we added the video right here so that you can watch the awards and world premier game trailers without ever having to leave this page.
The Game Awards is free to watch (and rewatch) and was streamed on 45 platforms. This includes YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook Live, Steam, Oculus Venues and even TikTokLive this year. Unlike the old Spike TV awards, ‘how to watch The Game Awards’ is a much easier question to answer: pretty much anywhere.
The show broadcast live from Los Angeles, London and Tokyo with strict safety protocols, according to the official Game Awards website. But there wasn’t an audience in LA this time around. Everyone watched from home and guests made appearances via Zoom.
The Game Awards start time – here’s when it started
The official Game Awards started at 7pm EST / 4pm PST, December 10, which was 12am GMT / 11am AEST December 11. It was broadcast at the same time around the world for free, so you could watch it no matter where you were located.
The Game Awards live stream had a small pre-show that started 30 minutes before the main event. That was 6:30pm EST / 3:30pm PST / 11:30pm GMT for that and the less flashy technical awards were handed out then.
Why watch The Game Awards 2020?
It’s easy to dismiss The Game Awards as a pageantry show to pat game developers on the back at the end of the year. But anyone who’s actually watched The Game Awards live stream in past years knows it’s more about the big game reveals.
Last year, Microsoft gave us our first look at The Xbox Series X console, something we didn’t expect, and in 2014, we got the world premier of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild before it came to the Nintendo Switch. This year ended on a high note with a tease of a new Mass Effect game.
We also saw new Super Smash Bros Ultimate fighters, but we didn’t get Spider-Man 3 movie teaser, a Halo Infinite gameplay trailer, or an Uncharted 5 debut trailer. And everyone hoping to see Sony drop more PS5 inventory didn’t get what they really wanted: more PS5 restock.
The Game Awards GotY winner
There were 30 different award categories, and The Game Award nominees for Game of the Year have been narrowed down to just seven titles:
Doom EternalFinal Fantasy 7 RemakeGhost of TsushimaHadesAnimal Crossing New Horizons The Last of Us Part II – Winner
Besides The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley, we saw familiar faces as celebrity presenters: director Christopher Nolan, who handed out the game of the year award, former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé, sports commentator Stephen A. Smith, rocker Eddie Vedder, DC and Marvel superheroes Gal Gadot and Brie Larson, and fresh off his Cyberpunk 2077 role, actor Keanu Reeves.
