The Game Awards 2024: Schedule, Streams and the Full Nominee Lineup

The annual celebration of gaming is back, and The Game Awards 2024 is set to crown the year's standouts while sneaking in a parade of surprise reveals. If you're trying to figure out when to tune in, where to stream, and which titles are squaring off in each category, the entire lineup is laid out below.

Date and Start Time

The show airs on December 12, 2024, kicking off at 12:30 AM UTC. For the major North American zones (and GMT, in case the timezone math went sideways the first time):

• 4:30 PM PST
• 5:30 PM MST
• 6:30 PM CST
• 7:30 PM EST
• 12:30 AM GMT

Where to Stream the Show

Viewing options are not in short supply this year. The official broadcast goes out across most major platforms, plus a long tail of gaming sites that mirror the feed. Wherever you tune in, the start time and content are identical, so it really comes down to which chat you'd rather watch scroll past.

• YouTube
• Twitch
• X
• Facebook Live
• Steam
• TikTok Live
• Instagram Live

How Voting Works

Every winner is decided by a split between a preselected jury and public voting. The jury carries roughly 90% of the weight, with community votes filling the remaining 10%. That sliver still matters in tight categories where two nominees are nearly even among jurors.

If you want to weigh in before the broadcast, head to the official nominees page and submit your picks. Treating it like a bracket challenge with friends works surprisingly well as pre-show entertainment.

Categories and Nominees

Below is the complete slate, along with the official description of what each award recognizes. A few categories are stacked with heavyweights, so brace for some painful eliminations.

Game of the Year

Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.

• Astro Bot
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio

Best Game Direction

Awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.

• Astro Bot
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio

Best Narrative

For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.

• Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade II
• Silent Hill 2

Best Art Direction

For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.

• Astro Bot
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Neva

Best Score and Music

For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song, and/or licensed soundtrack.

• Astro Bot
• Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Silent Hill 2
• Stellar Blade

Best Audio Design

Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.

• Astro Bot
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade II
• Silent Hill 2

Best Performance

Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion, and/or performance capture.

• Briana White as Aerith Gainsborough, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Hannah Telle as Max Caulfield, Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Humberly González as Kay Vess, Star Wars Outlaws
• Luke Roberts as James Sunderland, Silent Hill 2
• Melina Juergens as Senua, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II

Innovation in Accessibility

Recognizing software and/or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding features, technology and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience.

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Diablo IV
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
• Star Wars Outlaws

Games for Impact

For a thought-provoking game with a pro-social meaning or message.

• Closer the Distance
• Indika
• Neva
• Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade II
• Tales of Kenzera: Zau

Best Ongoing

Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.

• Destiny 2
• Diablo IV
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Fortnite
• Helldivers 2

Best Community Support

Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency, and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates/patches.

• Baldur's Gate 3
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Fortnite
• Helldivers 2
• No Man's Sky

Best Independent Game

For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.

• Animal Well
• Balatro
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
• Neva
• UFO 50

Best Debut Indie Game

For the best debut game created by a new independent studio.

• Animal Well, Shared Memory/Bigmode
• Balatro, LocalThunk/Playstack
• Manor Lords, Slavic Magic/Hooded Horse
• Pacific Drive, Ironwood Studios/Kepler Interactive
• The Plucky Squire, All Possible Futures/Devolver

Best Mobile Game

For the best game playable on a mobile device.

• AFK Journey
• Balatro
• Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket
• Wuthering Waves
• Zenless Zone Zero

Best VR/AR

For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.

• Arizona Sunshine Remake
• Asgard's Wrath 2
• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Metal: Hellsinger VR
• Metro Awakening

Best Action Game

For the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat.

• Black Myth: Wukong
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Helldivers 2
• Stellar Blade
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Best Action/Adventure

For the best action/adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.

• Astro Bot
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
• Silent Hill 2
• Star Wars Outlaws
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Best RPG

For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.

• Dragon's Dogma 2
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio

Best Fighting

For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.

• Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
• Marvel VS Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
• Multiversus
• Tekken 8

Best Family

For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.

• Astro Bot
• Princess Peach: Showtime!
• Super Mario Party Jamboree
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• The Plucky Squire

Best Sim/Strategy

Best game focused on real-time or turn-based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.

• Age of Mythology: Retold
• Frostpunk 2
• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
• Manor Lords
• Unicorn Overlord

Best Sports/Racing

For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.

• F1 24
• EA Sports FC 25
• NBA 2k25
• Top Spin 2k25
• WWE 2k24

Best Multiplayer

For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform.

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Helldivers 2
• Super Mario Party Jamboree
• Tekken 8
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Best Adaptation

Recognizing outstanding creative work that faithfully and authentically adapts a video game to another entertainment medium.

• Arcane
• Fallout
• Knuckles
• Like a Dragon: Yakuza
• Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

Most Anticipated Game

Recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward.

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yōtei
• Grand Theft Auto VI
• Metroid Prime 4
• Monster Hunter Wilds

Content Creator of the Year

For a streamer or content creator who has made an important and positive impact on the community in 2024.

• Caseoh
• Illojuan
• Techo Gamerz
• TypicalGamer
• Usada Pekora

Best Esports Game

For the game that has delivered the best overall esports experience to players (inclusive of tournaments, community support, and content updates), irrespective of genre or platform.

• Counter-Strike 2
• Dota 2
• League of Legends
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
• Valorant

Best Esports Athlete

The esports athlete judged to be the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2024, irrespective of game.

• "33" Neta Shapira, DOTA 2
• "Aleksib" Aleksi Virolainen, Counter-Strike
• "Chovy" Jeong Ji-hoon, League of Legends
• "Faker" Lee Sang-hyeok, League of Legends
• "Zywoo" Mathieu Herbaut, Counter-Strike
• "ZmjjKK" Zheng Yongkang, Valorant

Best Esports Team

Recognizing a specific esports team (not the full organization) judged the most outstanding for performance and conduct in 2024.

• Bilibili Gaming, League of Legends
• Gen.G, League of Legends
• Navi, Counter-Strike
• T1, League of Legends
• Team Liquid, DOTA 2

Players' Voice

Players' Voice is a 100% fan-voted award.

• Black Myth: Wukong
• Genshin Impact
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Wuthering Waves
• Zenless Zone Zero

That covers the full rundown. Set the reminders, line up the snacks, and if you want a refresher on how things shook out last year, the 2023 ceremony recap is a click away.