The Game Awards 2023 liveblog
Join us for a night of announcements, trailers, and probably Baldur’s Gate 3 winning everything
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The Game Awards are back tonight, as is our Game Awards liveblog. I’ll be doing the turbo-reporting solo this year, and since the show kicks off at 12:30am GMT (that’s 7:30pm ET and 4:30pm PT), you lucky readers can follow both an announcement-rammed awards gig and one hardware hack’s public crumbling into exhausted, sleepless ruin. Live!
Once again hosted by Geoff "Two seconds of silence" Keighley, the Game Awards 2023 will mix up its trophy handouts with both updates on previously-known games and some brand new reveals. We already know that Fortnite’s upcoming Rocket Racing mode will feature, as will a preview of Guilty Gear Strive’s next playable fighter, but the real big news remains unscooped. Maybe another glimpse at Death Stranding 2? More Baldur’s Gate 3, besides it likely sweeping the actual awards bit? Or perhaps the rumoured new EA Originals game will become considerably less of a rumour. No matter what, I’d bet a pair of Geoff’s favourite trainers that we’ll see that GTA 6 trailer again.
Here’s the livestream, to watch along:
Even after splitting off the more indie-focused Day of the Devs, the whole event is supposedly between two and half and three hours long (!). That means there’s plenty of time to settle down, pop some mordant wit in the comments, and shout at me to wake up if I fall unconscious. Just kidding, I’d never risk missing the possible live performance of that banger Alan Wake 2 song. See you back here later.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Alright, I'm up. Pre-show starts in seven minutes or so. Let's gooooo (in seven minutes)
treelo says: "Yknow what this software-based show needs? The hardware guy!" Did you pull the short straw in the treehouse, James?This thing starts at half past midnight. There's nothing BUT short straws.
DasBilligeAlien says: What's your favourite indie games that won't be on the game awards?Probs Tribes 3 Rivals, which incidentally I am missing the playtest for so that I can do this liveblog.
Seems like the official stream (that one right up there, the blighter) was a bit slow to start up. But we now have a countdown, with just over one minute to go.
Viewer discretion is advised. There! They've told you.
So this is the 'opening act' AKA the pre-show.
Kicking off with a remake of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Didn't have that on the bingo card.
Eulrich says: the new format is definitely more clear visualy, but it feels a tad disconnected compared to having the tree house and commentary directly side by sideHeh, I was complaining about this to the brass the other day.
First award: Best Family Game goes to Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Yaaaaay
Here's a first look at the next game from Inscryption creator Daniel Mullins, ny Island 2: Panda Circus. It's a bizarre mix of 2D puzzling, 3D exploration and occasional live action clips.
Then another announcement, The Rise of the Golden Idol. Not much detail there, except a mystical Aztec theme.
Next, a cartoony (but in a grown-up way) action-adventure, Usual June. It's from Finji, the indie studio founded by Canabalt dev Adam Saltsman.
Action-heavy look at Arknights: Endfield there.
Footage there of The Matchless Kungfu, a martial arts brawler that's already out in early access.
Aaaaaand a trailer for Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader. They're coming thick and fast already.
Now, Assassin's Creed VR?
Assasin's Creed *Nexus* VR, apologies.
Innovation in Accessibility award next. It goes to... Forza Motorsport.
Did I just hear some boos at that?!
This looks sweet - Harmonium, a story-led musical adventure with a deaf heroine. Was developed with input from members of the deaf community.
More awards. Best Esports Athlete goes to Faker. Best Esports Coach goes to Potter, best Esports Event goes to the 2023 Leage of Legends World Championship, Best Esports Game goes to Valorant, and Best Esports Team goes to JD Gaming.
E S P O R T S
Next, from the Dead Cells devs, is Windblown. It's a fantastical isometric... dungeon crawler? Maybe? Coming to early access next year.
Here's Thrasher, a "mind-melting cosmic racer". Thumper's composer is involved.
And that was Persona 3: Reload, out on Feb 2nd 2024.
Surprise Dave the Diver update/collab with Dredge incoming. Out on December 15th!
Content Creator of the Year is awarded to Vtuber Ironmouse.
PeopleMakeGames presumably sideways-glancing into the camera at that.
Ah, a World of Goo sequel! From original developers 2D Boy.
This one looks a lot more action-packed than I remember World of Goo being, but then I only played it on my phone on a holiday to Toronto. It's just called World of Goo 2, btw.
More from Persona devs Atlus: a fresh trailer for their less colourful but still anime-styled RPG, Metaphor Re:Fantazio. Almost looked a bit Monster Hunterish.
And that's the pre-show. Time for the main event, and Geoff himself.
HE'S NOT WEARING MASSIVE TRAINERS
Huh, a shoutout to Pizza Tower (and its dev team, who are in the audience).
Christopher "Kratos" Judge is coming on to present an award. Music quickly plays, hi-lar-iously calling back to his overrunning acceptance speech from last year.
He also throws shade at the length of the Modern Warfare 3 campaign. Sure why not!
It's the Best Performance award, by the way. For actors, not framerates.
It goes to Neil Newbon, BG3's Astarion.
Awwww, he's nervous as fuck.
First WURRRLD PREMIERE of the main show, and it's going to be introduced by Matthew McConaughey. Was...was he in a game? I don't know!
Ohhh, he's in THIS one.
From Archetype Entertainment, it's Exodus: a sci-fi adventure with time dilation shenanigans.
Bit of gameplay at the end there - it's a third-person shooter with a lil' bit of stealth.
Straight into the next announcement: looks like God of War: Ragnarok is getting a free roguelike mode DLC, called Valhalla. Out on Dec 12, but still only on Dec 12th - no word of a PC release.
For the main game, I mean.
Next, something from the makers of Untitled Goose Game, Big Walk. You're a strange bird-made-of-balls creature, seemingly exploring an island with your ball-bird mate and a pair of binoculars to spy on fellow ball-birds.
Time for a "break", which is in fact a trailer for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
I haven't played or really followed this, but it does look neat!
Here's that Lego Fortnite game that's been in the news.
It's a good long look at the game in action, which will be more of survival/building game than a PVP shooter.
Now here's a musical performance, straight from the Senua's Saga: Hellblade II soundtrack. Everyone's in full Viking regalia.
(I don't know nearly enough about medieval Nordic culture to give adequate commentary on this, sorry)
But I can tell you that we are now seeing Hellblade II in action. Looks nice, in a brutal kind of way. Very weighty-looking fightin'.
No release date yet, still just "2024". But it'll be on Game Pass.
Ed Boon is wheeled out for his regular Geoff Event showing. He's presenting the Best Narrative award.
It's won by Alan Wake 2! Sam Lake is there to accept.
...and hopefully do a certain dance with Old Gods of Asgard later. Come on Sam, don't let us down.
He's getting the "hurry up and finish your speech" music.
Tango Gameworks alumn Ikumi Nakamura is back on the Game Awards stage, to show her indie studio Unseen's first game.
It's called Kemuri, and it's a lively one. Only a CGI trailer but looks like you'll be using parkour and various traditional Japanese weapons to fight demons in a modern-day city.
Another trailer: Ori and the Blind Forest creators Moon Studios are working on a more violent fantasy action-RPG, No Rest for the Wicked.
A Lenovo Legion Go trailer! Hardware! I know what that is.
Aaaaaand it ends in seconds to a Game Pass trailer can roll.
Here's a trailer for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, which is not great.
Gonzo from the Muppets is here.
It is 01:42 in the morning.
Gonzo likes Tears of the Kingdom. Yeah that's nice and all but we're a PC GAMING site, Gonzo.
Time for the Best Debut Indie Game award, and it goes to... Cocoon!
That was.. odd. But the gist of it is that Sega are working on new installments in a bunch of classic series, including Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, and Crazy Taxi.
(Also Golden Axe and Streets of Rage)
Also, there was just a trailer for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero.
Another announcement: Supermassive Games are making The Casting of Frank Stone, a singleplayer horror in the Dead by Daylight universe.
Next: a new Mana game...
Visions of Mana, it's called. Coming in 2024.
I do believe this is a new trailer for Rise of the Rōnin, showing off the combat. That's an awful lot of flaming katanas.
That's out on March next year, though only on PS5.
More awards: Armored Core 6 wins Best Action Game. Alan Wake 2 bags Best Art Direct, while Best VR/AR goes to Resident Evil Village VR Mode.
Best Mobile Game also goes to Honkai: Star Rail.
And now, a montage of streamers playing The Outlast Trials. And screaming.
That's all in service of a reminder that The Outlast Trials leaves early access on March 18th next year.
A HIDEO KOJIMA GAME. This can only be Death Stranding 2, right?
No! It's something called OD.
That was mainly just CGI heads looking into the camera and occasionally screaming. But looks like we're about to find out more about what OD actually is, as Kojima himself takes the stage.
Kojima says OD is a game, but also a movie, but also "a new kind of media".
Jordan Peele has just come through Kojima's glowing door as well. How is he involved?
Lots of complimenting Hideo Kojima, not much about what Hideo Kojima's game development studio is making.
Though it is being made in collaboration with Xbox Game Studios, so a good chance of OD coming to PC. Whatever it is.
Kojima says he's working with other creative "legends" but can't name them. And that's basically it for OD.
Something Jurassic Park-related now.
That's Jurassic Park: Survival. Looks like you're a lone...survivor left behind in the doomed park, dodging dinos in first-person.
Next award is Best Audio Design, which goes to Hi-Fi Rush. My personal GOTY, dontchanow.
As promised, here's the new Rocket Racing mode in Fortnite.
The cars make deep real-car vroom noises, but we can all see this is a wacky kart racer.
Here's a trailer for the upcoming Black Myth: Wukong. And a release date: August 20th, 2024.
Related: our sister site GamesIndustry.biz reported on accusations of sexist recruiting and social media posts at Black Myth developers Game Science.
Next, a new trailer for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Still looks very shooty, and jumpy.
Time for a look at the next Warframe expansion, Whispers in the Walls.
And a date: December 13th, just five days from now.
Here's RPS' favouritest game ever, Starfield.
Just an accolades trailer, mind.
Next up, another CGI trailer for Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. That's out on February 13th next year.
Tactical breaching game Ready or Not enters version 1.0 on December 13th.
Next award is the Games For Impact award. Tchia takes it.
Actor Abubakar Salim is here to introduce the game he's been working on with Surgent Studios. It's a 2D action-platformer inspired by his father and African culture.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau is the name.
Now, something from Life is Strange creators Don't Nod. Looks awfully Life is Strange-like...
But it is in fact Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, an entirely new game. Few details but will follow a buncha teens getting into vaguely supernatural drama.
Now we're seeing a trailer for viking action-RPG The First Beserker: Khazan.
"The Game Awards Orchestra" are now performing the theme from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, penned by Nobuo Uematsu.
Well that was nice.
This is...a Final Fantasy/Apex Legends crossover?
Yep, new Rebirth-themed skins for Apex, coming on January 9th.
More awards! Best Score & Music goes to Final Fantasy XVI, Best Independent Game goes to Sea of Stars (not Dave the Diver, ooooo), Best Community Support goes to Baldur's Gate 3, Best Fighting Game goes to Street Fighter 6, and Most Anticipated Game goes to Final Fantasy VII Rebith.
Funny how quickly they blast through awards at an awards show. Almost as if they don't matter and this is primarily a delivery system for adverts
Little trailer there for Honaki: Star Rail.
Also a trailer for MW3/Warzone's Season 1 update, which is out now.
The much-delayed Skull and Bones is up next.
Will it finally release? Ubisoft think so, on Feb 16th.
There's also a closed beta that's available for signups, starting December 15th.
And that was a teaser for Marvel's Blade, coming from Arkane Lyon.
Arkane, famously, have had massive success with vampires.
To be clear, Blade is a singleplayer game where you can "play Blade your way". So it should play to Arkane's strengths better than Redfall. Hopefully.
Can't wait to make Blade eat fifty tins of potted meat before nonlethally choking out all the vampires.
Moving on, here's Twisted Metal star Anthony Mackie.
Twisted Metal is getting a second season, says Mr Mackie.
(I feel bad for being glib about Blade. Both Dishonoreds were great. I'm just very tired)
What's he's REALLY here for, though, is to announce the winner of Best Ongoing Game. And it's Cyberpunk 2077! Not a live service multiplayer thing! That's surprising.
Heh, there's the "shut up" music again.
Another first look, this time at Lightspeed LA's debut game: Last Sentinel.
It's a futuristic...I'm guessing shooter, judging by how many robots and dystopian cops just got shot.
Next, a new trailer for looter shooter The First Descendent. Kinda light on looting and shooting, but did show a vaguely fun-looking grapple whip thingy.
And here's a trailer for Zenless Zone Zero, miHoYo's urban fantasy ARPG.
That looks alright, actually - some lovely smooth animation.
Next up, mech shooter Mecha Break. Looks like it could be Armored Core But Faster And More Colourful?
This looks like Helldivers 2, in action.
Yep! That's out on Feb 8th.
More quickfire trailers. Here we have Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, which is coming on September 9th 2024.
Aheheheheeheh here we go, Herald of Darkness from Alan Wake 2. Live!
Rather amazingly, this has not just Poets of the Fall as Remedyverse band Old Gods of Asgard, but David Harewood, Matthew Porretta and Ilkka Villi all on stage performing their AW2 roles.
I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: I haven't reached that part in Alan Wake 2. Spoilers?Yes. But, it's amazing. So, tough call.
THEY'RE DOING THE DANCE AND EVERYTHING
Are...are The Game Awards good now? That was outstanding.
Whelp, back to work. Here's a new trailer for horror co-op shooter GTFO.
But! GTFO devs 10 Chambers also have something new to announce...
It's a heist game - 10 Chambers is notably formed partly of ex-Payday devs - but is set in the far future.
It's called Den of Wolves, and looks to be another FPS.
And that was an all-CG look at Exoborn, a post-apocalyptic extraction shooter where everyone wears massive metal exosuits to get extra-fighty.
Here's Matt Mercer to introduce a trailer for Asgard's Wrath II, a VR RPG that mish-mashes various ancient mythologies.
Katharine has also reminded me that this has been bundled free with Meta Quest 3 headsets, despite not being out until December 15th. Strange!
Not A Game, but here's the trailer for that Fallout TV series.
I think this could be okay? Maybe looks a bit too bright and shiny, though. In my mind Fallout is profoundly brown at almost all times.
Another, related award: Best Adaptation. It's The Last of Us.
Time for something more chill, and life-simmy. It's a Palia trailer! That's already out on PC though.
A brief TGA Future Class interlude there included a brief look at Hindsight, an indie puzzle game where you explore the past by interacting with everyday objects.
Then a trailer for No Man's Sky, before Sean Murray begins to introduce Hello Games' next project.
If No Man's Sky created a universe, this new game is apparently focused on one planet, but with the variety "of a universe".
Here's a trailer! It's fantasy-styled...
There's a bit of bow combat, and you can fly dragons - not a bad start - but it isn't clear what exactly you'll *do* in this. Is it a survival game?
Light No Fire, is the name.
Simu Liu is the next celebrity on celebrity duty.
Sounds like this is gonna be about Stormgate, the Starcraft-alike.
Yep! And Liu is playing a giant angry metal man.
Next award is Best Action/Adventure Game. It goes to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Seems we're running over the 3-hour estimate :,)
Awards blast: Best RPG goes to Baldur's Gate 3, Best Sim/Strategy goes to Pikmin 4, Best Sports/Racing goes to Forza Motorspot, Best Multiplayer goes to Baldur's Gate 3, Player's Voice goes to Baldur's Gate 3, Baldur's Gate 3, Baldur's Gate 3, Baldur's Gate 3.
Guilty Gear Strive is on next. And a new character, Elphelt Valentine, who combines a street muscian theme with...a bunch of guns?
Also: a new game mode, 3v3 team battle.
(coming 2024)
Then a very brief teaser for Stress City 4...
Final Fantasy XVI now. Moving quickly again.
Had a glimpse of its two upcoming expansions, but no PC release date.
Vince Zampella takes the stage to announce the Best Game Direction award.
Alan Wake 2 wins it. Amateur dancer Sam Lake goes up to accept.
Come on Sam, you're gonna get the music at this pace mate.
Some The Finals news now, it seems.
At the end of another new trailer, the big reveal: The Finals is out *tonight*, Steam included. Well then!
I do like what I've played of The Finals so far. It has a bit of that Titanfall quality where a normal match can actually resemble the drama and kineticism of the trailers.
Time for the final major game reveal...
(It's not Elden Ring DLC, soz)
Monster Hunter!
* Monster Hunter: Wilds, coming 2025.
Will have to wait until summer 2024 for more substantial MH: Wilds deets, it seems.
And finally, Timothee Chamalet is here to announce the Geoff-approach Game of the Year. The orchestra is playing some tunes inspired by each nominee, starting with Alan Wake 2.
The song isn't just Herald of Darkness again, though I'd be up for that tbh.
PolygonClassicist says: I'm looking at the faq about the award process and it turns out Eurogamer but not RPS is on the Jury that makes up 90% of the vote (except for the gamer voice). Which is a shame, I gotta say.It's a fix!
Baldur's Gate 3 wins GOTY, surprising about four people.
Larian CEO Swen Vincke is up there (in full plate armour) to accept.
And that is that. Thanks for following along with me, dear readers, and if you missed anything, I understand there'll be a full roundup of all the announcements up on RPS in a bit. Cheers!