The latest edition of The Game Awards 2024 was held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on December 12. With a star-studded list of nominees that included some of the biggest releases of the year and a long list of channels broadcasting the proceedings live, it ended as the series' most popular edition.
One of the various live-streaming awards to be held in December as part of the year-end festivities attracted thousands of viewers as fans got to see their favorite games duke it out for one of the most prestigious awards in the industry. Titles like Astro Bot, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Black Myth: Wukong, and Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth were part of the lists, securing multiple nominations in major categories.
Perhaps the biggest winner of The Game Awards 2024 was Astro Bot, which claimed four trophies, including Game of the Year. The Team Asobi and Sony Interactive Entertainment platform video game was nominated in a whopping seven categories, with its other wins including Best Game Direction, Best Action/Adventure Game, and Best Family Game.
The tenth anniversary of what many call the biggest awards ceremony in the video games industry was once again hosted by creator Geoff Keighley. He is considered one of the industry's most popular journalists of all time, with his written work published in various eminent outlets, including Kotaku, Entertainment Weekly, and Fortune.
Japanese game developers had a good night out at The Game Awards 2024 thanks to the role-playing game Metaphor: ReFantazio, which was presented with three awards from six nominations. Balatro, the poker-themed indie hit, also clinched three awards, including Best Mobile Game.
The Chinese legends-based Black Myth: Wukong could only get two wins after being nominated in five categories. However, it did claim the coveted Player's Voice Award, which is publicly voted, reiterating its enduring popularity among gamers and fans.
There was also no update on the highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6, which did win the Most Anticipated Game award. Moreover, we got a reveal for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the latest project from Last of Us developer Naughty Dog, and a trailer for Witcher 4.
Viewers were also introduced to the Game Changers Award this year, which rewards those who discuss wider issues in the industry and look to bring positive change. The inaugural trophy went to Amir Satvat, a director at Tencent Games in the US whose personal project helped recently laid-off game developers find new employment.
The Game Awards 2024 livestream viewership stats
The 11th edition of the show became the first in series history to cross the 4M Peak Viewers barrier, backed up by over 1,400 channels covering the proceedings. Interestingly, the show had a mostly consistent viewership throughout its nearly five-hour run time, peaking around the reveal of the night's most anticipated award, the Game of the Year.
Astro Bot's win was quite a surprise, as it was a game — from a small development team that focused on making it fun — competing against some of the biggest video game releases of 2024. Its success raised quite a few eyebrows online as well, including among prominent content creators, but the message from the jury (consisting of a panel of industry experts and a fan vote that counted for 10% of the final score) was seemingly clear: to concentrate on the gameplay itself.
Nevertheless, with so much coverage coming from channels from across the globe, The Game Awards 2024 registered 15.3M Hours Watched and 3.1M Average Viewers. The former was also a record for the series, with the last three editions all crossing the 10M HW barrier and featuring among the most-watched award shows, as per the Esports Charts database.
What helped The Game Awards 2024 reach such high audience numbers was the addition of platforms to the broadcasting list. For example, Rumble's recent acquisition Herschel DrDisrespect Beahm live-streamed the action to his subscribers, attracting thousands of new eyeballs to the glittering function.
We also witnessed the likes of BaityBait and Case Caseoh Baker reach new peak viewership highs during the course of co-streaming the event. The latter, one of the fastest-rising streamers over the last two years, beat his previous mark by around 9%, continuing a trend that began with a massive Gamer of the Year win at The Streamer Awards 2024.
Backed by the lengthy list of co-streamers tuning in to catch 'the Oscars of gaming,' The Game Awards 2024 has reached new heights. A great list of nominees and the interest generated by an audience with not many esports distractions have made it a resounding success, easily making it the most popular gaming, esports, or livestream-related award event of the year.
