The Game Awards 2021 ceremony will announce a "double digit" number of new games, says creator and host Geoff "The Game Awards" Keighley.
In an extensive interview with former Kotaku and Polygon co-founder Brian Crecente, shared on Epic Games' site, Keighley detailed what to expect from the show, which airs globally on December 9 from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles at 8 PM ET.
Keighley shared that he expects the show to feature 40 to 50 games this year, "some way or another," including games that are expected to release in 2022 and 2023. Keighley noted that the show will be split about evenly between awards and game-related announcements and premieres. The Game Awards will also feature trailers for things that aren't games, including television shows or movies inspired by games.
That could point to a potential teaser trailer for one of the many video game adaptations currently in production in Hollywood such as Uncharted, The Last of Us for HBO, or something else entirely.
The Game Awards 2021 will also include a live orchestra performance and celebrity guest appearances. We can only hope for more Muppets since Keighley had a guest appearance in Muppets Haunted Mansion.
Despite the familiar setup, the show will still employ various COVID safety protocols. Audience capacity will be cut in half, be invite-only, vaccination will be required, and attendees will be required to wear masks.
The Game Awards has historically seen immense jumps in viewership numbers each year. Just last year, even as the event transitioned to a digital-only stream amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, The Game Awards jumped from 43 million to about 83 million viewers. Keighley was careful to keep expectations modest for this year.
“You know, maybe if we hit 100 million that would be something, but yeah, I mean, we're obviously not going to be doubling every year,” Keighley said. “That's not sustainable. But honestly, we don't really think that much about the numbers. We just make the best show we can.”
What Keighley is interested in exploring is how the hyped-up concept of a "metaverse" will impact how viewers watch the show. Rather than a simple livestream on their TV, Keighley imagines they might one day tune in via Fortnite.
"So it's early days with that stuff, but I do think in five years more people will watch our show or participate in our show from within a kind of real-time 3D environment than just watching a traditional video feed," Keighley said.
What about the increasingly divisive concept of NFTs, you may ask? "We're not doing any NFT stuff," Keighley said.
(Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images)
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.