The Game Awards 2024 liveblog
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Tonight is The Game Awards 2024, the first since Geoff Keighley killed E3 and consumed its heart in front of a group of screaming schoolchildren. Just saying, this had better be good, Geoff, especially after the 2023 show’s "embarrassing" shooing-off of developers whose acceptance speeches cut into that valuable trailer showcase time.
Who will need to please wrap it up this time? Which games will be revealed? Will there be a musical number to top last year’s Herald of Darkness performance? (That was fun, actually, fair play on that one.) You can find out right along with us, as we once again fire up the RPS liveblog-o-tron to report all the developments as they happen. Even the ones that happen at 3:45am, when I’ll be desperately trying not to collapse into my keyboard like a felled tree.
Speaking of, said blog will go live just before The Games Awards itself kicks off, at 12:30am GMT / 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT. Why not watch along with us using the embedded stream below, and sling us some comments of your own? See you then.
The Geoffening has begun! Catch all the latest Game Awards announcements on our Game Awards 2024 hub page. You can also get the news hot from our liveblog.
Key points
I'm sorry, but it's over. I have depicted you as the ageing cantakerous muppets and myself as the cool awards show host.
Still, always nice to shrug into the void with our lovely readers. Thanks for dropping in, and look out for all the in-depth pieces that the rest of the treehouse have/will be putting together. Cheers!
I'm interested, but not entranced by the concept of, Elden Ring: Nightreign. The Outer Worlds 2 looks like a laugh as well. Otherwise ehhhhhhhh
I'd to dedicate this award (an air-fried chicken nugget) to you James. Thank you for your service.
I'd to dedicate this award (an air-fried chicken nugget) to you James. Thank you for your service.
Well that's that. Thoughts? Cares? Does any of this matter?
I haven't played Astro Bot so it might be incredible, but its whole mascot vibe does make it feel a little like if the greatest game-making achievement of 2004 was deemed to be Eyetoy Play 2
...I wasn't making a joke there, I just forgot to include Astro Bot in that list of nominees
Astro Bot wins.
That mad flautist from 2023 is back, as the Georchestra musically reminds us of the GOTY nominees. Those being Metaphor: ReFantazio, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (oooooohhhhh), Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, and Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth.
He's also giving a rather un-TGA speech about the virtues of giving developers the time and freedom to make their best games. Imagine!
Finally(?), here's Larian head Swen Vincke to present Game of the Year. He opens with a joke about being his acceptance speech being cut off last year.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is the name. You're a spacefaring bounty hunter, hunting bastards and fighting alien beasts with power swords, and the soundtrack is by Trent Rezor and Atticus Ross.
Ah it's from Naughty Dog.
In any case, here be a trailer for...something 80's sci-fi?
"We do have one more thing." Do you, Geoff? How can I trust you again.
...It is the last puppet section, right
Hopefully that's the last puppet section.
"One last announcement" also immediately turns out to be a lie, as we have a release window for Crimson Desert: late 2025.
Just the teasiest of teasers, though.
Ah, it's an Okami sequel. We know because the words "OKAMI SEQUEL" appear on the big screen.
"One last announcement" before GOTY, sayeth Geoff.
Great, that's the Metaphor chanting battle music back in my head for another three weeks.
And Best Narrative goes to Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Remedy's Sam Lake is doing a Max Payne impression ahead of presenting the Best Narrative award. Don't think it's going to turn into an actual Max Payne remaster reveal, mind.
Okay here's Dispatch. It's a Telltale-style superhero narrative game, with Paul playing a down-on-his-luck mech pilot forced to make ends meet as a dispatcher of more successful heroes.
I like both actors but just to be clear, this bit makes me wish I was dead.
Laura Bailey is onstage with Aaron Paul, announcing something called Dispatch. They are doing ACTING
Google Play Games Beta? Guess Microsoft finally got mobile-on-PC games working.
In case you ever suspected it, yes: I do try to make everything on RPS about the Steam Deck.
Oh hey, the Steam Deck! And it's gone.
Infinity Nikki trailer. Bit of everything here: platforming, animal grooming, fishing (naturally).
'Best Independent Game' getting less than a minute of airtime, honestly.
The 'Players' Voice' award is won by Black Myth: Wukong.
Best Audio Design goes to Bala-no, wait, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.
...and Best Mobile Game.
Awards! Balatro wins Best Independent Game.
That's coming in Summer 2025.
Next, it's Mafia: The Old Country, taking the open-world gangster series all the way back to old-timey Scicily. There's still plenty of shooting, punching, and car chases, it seems.
Quick teaser for Sonic Racing: Crossworlds there.
Best Score and Music award now. It goes to... Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. Did I mention that's coming to PC?
No such wacky cameos in Lego Fortnite Odyssey, which also gets a new trailer showings its blocky fantasy swordplay.
Fortnite continues to be less of a game and more of a billboard with microtransactions.
This is better than the Muppet bits, to be fair.
Snoop Dogg is back, doing a Snoop Dogg song.
Joey Balliro says: I think screamer is more a “reboot” than a remake. Its got not much in common with the games from 1995Yes! I used the wrong word. It's late
And now Honkai: Star Rail, which seems to be going to some kind of chintzy casino planet.
A giant hand is fought. That's all I got.
Zenless Zone Zero next.
Here's th first in-game footage of Den of Wolves, the sci-fi heist game from various Payday and GTFO veterans. It sure does look like future-Payday, huh. That'll be coming to early access...sometime.
The Best Adaptation award goes to Fallout.
Graham, who is old, just reminded me that Screamer was a racing game released in 1995, so that new one is a remake. Context!
Aaaaand that's The Last of Us Part II Remastered confirmed for PC on April 3rd 2025.
And then Screamer, a dark, neon-y street racer set for 2026.
It's anime man vs. giant bug in a new look at Solo Levelling: Arise.
Now a new trailer for Double Dragon Revive, which was announced earlier this year. That's out October 2025.
A Game of Thrones game, guest starring Kit Harrington and at least the faces of a few others. s'called Game of Thrones: Kingsroad - not sure how it'll play, but it looks like you're play a member of the Night's Watch tasked with gathering support from squabbling nobles.
New game now from Overcooked devs Ghost Town Games, Stage Fright: a 2-player, split-screen co-op adventure.
My cat, presumably not a Helldivers fan, just knocked a bunch of my belongings over in surprise.
It's the award for Best Ongoing Game, which Dogg Snr. gives to Helldivers 2.
Snoop Dogg and his son, Cordell Broadus (nee Dogg?) are here now. Thank god.
Ah yes, Squid Game: Unleashed, that cartoon Squid Game game whose existence suggests that some people missed the point of Squid Game.
Quick trailer for Fallout: Ballistic's coming-soon early access launch.
A reminder there that Hunt: Showdown 1896 - Post Malone's Murder Circus (not a typo) is live now.
Literally, even. That was like four awards in three and a half seconds.
And Frostpunk 2 gets Best Strategy. As with last year, really feels like if you're going to do these categories, you should give them a bit more breathing room...
Best Sports/Racing Game is won by EA Sports FC 25.
Content Creator of the Year goes to Caseoh.
Astro Bot wins Best Action/Adventure game, Best RPG goes to Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Another trailer for Dying Light: The Beast, which adds some monstrous abilities to the usual parkour.
and that was an action-heavy trailer for Dungeon & Fighter: Arad, the deeply Genshin-like open world RPG take on DNF.
The First Berzeker: Khazan, that was. Out on March 27th next year.
Lot of monsters being bisected in these last two trailers. Looooooot of monsters. Being bisected.
Time for a new Dungeon & Fighter as well, it seems.
It's Onimusha: Way of the Sword, out in 2026. Man, it's been a while since the last mainline Onimusha, hasn't it.
We're back in feudal Japan for another new game reveal...
Best Debut Indie Game award next. It goes to... Balatro, beating out the likes of Manor Lords and Pacific Drive.
Don't make me describe these Xbox ads.
Dragon fights abound in this trailer for Wuthering Waves.
...that's the Feybreak update, which is out December 23rd.
Time for a Palworld update. Also wins the award for Lowest Trailer Framerate, am I right folks
One last trailer before this more story-based spinoff launches tomorrow. Or today, if you're a sleep-deprived Brit like me.
Warframe: 1999 next.
Out now, that there Helldivers 2 update is.
Yep, and the Helldivers are fighting them in jeeps.
Now the "No...sweet liberty...nooooooooo" guy from Helldivers 2 is introducing something. Guessing it's the game's new Illuminati faction?
That's followed by a trailer for.. Turok: Origins, a third-person dino shooter where you and your mates pack shapeshifting armour.
After a longer speech than any of the winners are likely to get, he's ready to present the award for Best Game Direction. Astro Bot wins it.
Kojima's here, better get comfy.
Another new game, also from RGG Studio: Project Century. A man gorily fights his way down a street in what might be early/mid 20th century Japan.
YogSo says: @James Yup, it was one of the press quotes shown during the Veilguard ad.Ah, see, no amount of Doritos can buy publicity like that.
Virtua Fighter. Huh!
Ah, from Yakuza/LAD makers RGG.
New game alert. It has a bird in it.
YogSo says: The real question is, how many Dorito packets did it cost to get that RPS quote featured in the Game Awards? ;-pHah, I missed that. Where? During the Veilguard bit?
Speaking of which, it's 2am and we're not even halfway through.
No, not Misery.
The Georchestra is back, playing music from Arcane.
Fortnite? Geoff, we know all these games already.
DA: The Veilguard trailer. OK sure. And then a mightily fast-paced mech game, Mecha Break, which makes that Steel Hunters trailer look like it was playing in slow motion.
Not much news there, still coming sometime in 2025.
Sci-fi comp shooter Splitgate 2 gets a new trailer next.
And Best Art Direction is won by Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Best Community Support... Baldur's Gate 3.
Best Multiplayer Game goes to Helldivers 2.
Most Antipated Game is GTA VI, obvs.
AWARDS
Clive, that bloke from Final Fantasy XVI that everyone likes for some reason, is becoming a fighter in Tekken 8. Next week, no less.
This is more recognisably Borderlandsy than that more photorealistic teaser trailer suggested. Pretty much none of the wacky comedy, though. For better or worse?
Borderlands 4 is next...
Next, The Long Dark II: Blackfrost. Back for more kinda-pretty post apocalyptica.
Back to the selling of videogames. Here's Wargaming's new mech game, Steel Hunters. Seems like you can be an Armoured Core-style humanoid mech or a more animal-shaped machine.
Standing ovation too, aww that's nice. Though I do wish TGA would tackle this issue with a bit more teeth.
Back to the stage, where Satvat is winning a special 'Game Changer' award.
We're watching a profile on Amir "Big Al" Satvat, who runs a service helping game devs find work.
Wow, Geoff actually acknowledging the many, many job losses in the games industry.
Killing Floor 3 now. Looks messy! You can sign up for the closed beta now.
Litle showing for Fragpunk there, showing a release date of March 6th. Was that...delayed by one day? It was the 5th before, no?
Man, these aren't even trailers, they're just...regular ads. Like you'd get during Corrie.
That's out "in two months".
This is too much videogame, Josef.
Josef Fares, of Hazelight Studios, is on next. He's introducing Split Fiction - it's another co-op game where two rival writers jump between simulations of their respective sci-fi and fantasy stories.
Looks very TOW1-ish, except with maybe some more creative guns - fairly sure there was one there that shot a load of giant furry leeches onto the baddie.
First in-game look at The Outer Worlds 2 now.
Maybe if I do a really good job at this liveblog then Graham will give me enough money to buy my own orchestra. Then I'd have them follow me around, playing a cover of Where the Hood At whenever I walk in a room
Now, Geoff's personal orchestra will play the theme from Civilisation VII. Sorry, Sid Meier's Civilisation VII.
Anywhere, here's something new from the makers of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. A man scales a giant robot man, which then explodes something into a completely white screen. Oh wait that's the whole trailer. Not even a game title.
Don't these trailer spots cost hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece?
It's such a GIFT to have this next trailer, you guys.
wankerman says: Co-op Elden Ring? What is this, another expansion or a new game? Guess I need to play Erdtree...Standalone, looks like!
Still thinking about Nightreign. I'm wondering if making it purely co-op and actiony might rob it of some of the Lands Between's lonely atmosphere, but also at this point I'd just take more Elden Ring.
He's also presenting Best Action Game, which goes to Black Myth: Wukong.
Abubakar Salim comes onstage, immediately makes a dead dad joke
Did you know Path of Exile 2 is out now in early access? Because it is. There was a trailer just now for it and everything.
Trailer for Catly there, starring cats, and maybe some kind of sci-fi housebuilding? Unclear.
Trailer now for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Not very necessary, but then I suppose none of this is.
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth confirmed for PC, out on 23rd January 2025.
Elden Ring: Nightreign confirmed for 2025. Not a huge amount of details, other than it being a co-op action game.
Elden Ring: Nightreign confirmed for 2025. Not a huge amount of details, other than it being a co-op action game.
That's the voice of Morgott!
It's def Elden Ring, but perhaps some kind of multiplayer spinoff...
New Fromsoftware game, you say? And is that an Elden Ring grace site?
Slight desperation in the "Please watch!" there from Geoff. Yeah, mate, some of us have to be here.
No date but yup, that's The Witcher 4.
All CG, this. Shows a fully Witchered-up Ciri fighting a spidery beast with a bird beak.
Witcher 4, looks like, starring Ciri.
New game from CD Projekt Red next.
Anyway, this Indy love-in is all for the sake of the Best Performance award. It goes to Melinda Juergens, voice of Hellblade 2's Senua, for her role as Hellblade 2's Senua.
He thinks Troy Baker is a good Harrison Ford, is what I'm getting.
Harrison Ford is here. I'm hoping he knows *where* here is, but here he is.
Todd Howard and Troy Baker are presenting something and good grief, is Todd really short or is Troy really tall?
Will there be two people I'd like to have a beer with less on stage at the same time tonight? The night is young!
Statler and Waldorf from Sesame Street are doing a bit, for no readily apparent reason.
Former PlayStation CEO Ken Kutaragi is namedropped, then he gets confused and tries to walk onstage. Deary me.
Balatro creator LocalThunk is here, as is Sam Lake, who I hope does another dance.
Solasta II has shiny rock people in it. Why do games keep doing this? I bet they make a limp 'clunk' sound when you hit them. They're everywhere and I hate them so much.
Also my guilty TGA confession is that I quite like the Linkin Park song he walked out to. I'm sorry.
He's actually dressed himself properly for this one, to be fair.
Time for the main event. GEOFF. GEOFF. GEOFF. GEOFF.
Last trailer of the pre-show is for Solasta 2, a sequel to turn-based RPG Solasta: Crown of the Magister. Entering early access in 2025, with a demo coming soon.
Here's a football (or "sock her") game from the makers of Sifu, which actually has a similar painterly style. It's called Rematch and is out in 2025.
Best Family Game goes to Astro Bot, which is not a PC game, but might be in 2026 or so.
Lil' trailer there for Kyora, a Terraria-esque 2D mining game.
Here's our Thick as Thieves preview from Jeremy Peel, btw.
The Innovation in Accessibility award goes to Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Good for them.
Midnight Murder Club next, which looks to be all about offing your friends in a blacked-out mansion. There's a crossplay beta out now.
I, uh, thought this might be Judas at first. But nah, it's a vaguely cartoonish Stalcraft: Operations.
Anyway, Cozy K shows a bit of Tales of the Shire, which is out on March 25th 2025.
Someone who promots cozy games is called Cozy K? Damn, that worked out well
Games for Impact award next. What does that mean? I dunno, but Neva wins it
Also a blink-and-you'll miss it trailer for Steel Paws
Honestly, a big dark Pac Man appears at the end and munches everything
Another reveal: Shadow Labyrinth, which looks like an edgy cross between 2D platformer and... Pac Man
Quickfire awards now. League of Legends wins Best Esports Game, Faker wins Best Esports Athlete, and T1 wins Best Esports Team. Absolute League bias, ref
Multiplayer first-person heist game, looks like?
Now, the reveal of Thick of Thieves, from Warren "Don't attribute entire games to a single person" Spector
That's Dave the Diver: In the Jungle, coming 2025. Not sure if that's a DLC or sequel? But Dave goes to the jungle, just fyi
Something Dave the Diver next, it seems.
Best VR/AR Game goes to Batman: Arkham Shadow. Am currently emailing Rick Lane to ask if this is deserved or not
New trailer for Slay the Spire 2, which is (still) coming to early access in 2025.
One Move Away, it's called. Out in 2025.
Next is a "cosy game", seemingly about moving house. I actually did this at the weekend and there is literally nothing I don't want to play a game about more.
First award too. Best Fighting Game goes to Tekken 8. Also hah, I forgot they shunt some of their forty thousand award categories into the pre-show.
This is Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, a retro-style, side-scrolling ninja fighter from the makers of TMNT: Shredder's Revenge.
First trailer coming up...
It's the opening act! Presented by State Farm! Say in the comments if you know what that is
Would it be unprofessional to get Deliveroo while - oh wait it's starting
Uh oh. I'm hungry.
One and a bit minutes to go. The pre-show music is climatically swelling, as if we're about to see a man fight a dragon, rather than one present marketing materials while wearing a blazer with trainers
Wang Tang says: I never followed the announcements in the past, however, this year I'm excited for some Exodus news - thanks RPS for covering this :) (Coca Cola, for me a classic to stay awake. What more than tons of coffein and sugar to keep you on your toes?)Incidentally, this liveblog is brought to you by the refreshing taste of Diet Coke. Other sugar-free carbonated beverages are available
I'm up. I'm up. I wasn't sleeping. God, what time is it?
The Game Awards 2024 liveblog
Hello, early birds. Let's meet back here at 12:30am GMT / 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT when the show begins, yes?