The Game Awards 2020 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2020. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, and took place on December 10, 2020. The preshow ceremony was hosted by Sydnee Goodman. Unlike previous Game Awards, the show was broadcast virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic; Keighley presented at a soundstage in Los Angeles, while musical performances took place virtually at stages in London and Tokyo. The show introduced the award's first Future Class, a list of individuals from the video game industry who best represent the future of video games, Innovation in Accessibility award, an award for games that featured notable accessibility options. The show was live streamed across 45 different platforms. It featured musical performances from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Eddie Vedder, and presentations from celebrity guests, including Reggie Fils-Aimé, Gal Gadot, Brie Larson, and Keanu Reeves.
The Last of Us Part II received eleven nominations and seven wins—the most in the show's history to date—and was awarded Game of the Year. Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross won Best Narrative for their work on the game, while Laura Bailey was awarded Best Performance for her role as Abby. Several new games were announced, including Ark II, Perfect Dark, and an untitled Mass Effect game. The show was the most expensive ceremony to date. It was viewed by over 83 million streams, the most in its history to date, with 8.3 million concurrent viewers at its peak. It received a mixed reception from media publications, with praise directed at new game announcements, and criticism for not allowing developers more time to speak. Some critics and viewers shared concerns over the success of The Last of Us Part II due to its developer's crunch practices.
Background
As with previous iterations of The Game Awards, the 2020 show was hosted and produced by Canadian games journalist Geoff Keighley. He returned as an executive producer alongside Kimmie Kim, and Richard Preuss and LeRoy Bennett returned as director and creative director, respectively. Sydnee Goodman returned as host of the preshow. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Keighley did not want to host a normal ceremony. Not wanting to take a hiatus and inspired by the success of Summer Game Fest, he considered hosting from his home but his board urged him to attempt a larger show on par with previous years. In case of a significant surge of COVID-19 cases in California, the crew had several back-up plans, including broadcasting from Keighley's house. He worked with his partners to develop a virtual show; he and his team took inspiration from other shows throughout the year, including the Democratic National Convention, in which the "audience" was featured on virtual screens, as well as the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, wherein the hosts were isolated on stage and the winners accepted via video call.
The presentation used three soundstages in Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo; each had minimal attendees, mostly related to production crew and presenters. Keighley said this allowed them to include additional presentation events as with past shows, as well as explore taking future shows to different venues. The 2020 show—featuring a production of more than 400 people, six of whom are full-time employees—had a budget of under and was the most expensive to date, partly due to the COVID-19 tests required for the crew and the worldwide remote camera set-ups. It remained profitable due to revenue from advertisers and sponsors, as well as minor earnings from streaming services. The show's theme was strength and comfort due to the impact of the pandemic. Keighley wanted to implore the theme of unity, given the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in November 2020; he cited The Game Awards 2018 as an example of this theme, which had led with Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aimé, Microsoft's Phil Spencer, and Sony's Shawn Layden sharing the stage. Keighley felt the inclusion of film and television stars was an interesting way to show a wider appreciation for the industry. His team wanted to include Henry Cavill in the show, but he was busy working on The Witcher.
While developing the show, Keighley spoke to hundreds of viewers via Zoom to discuss their own interests, often alongside industry figures like Valve Corporation president Gabe Newell and Epic Games creative director Donald Mustard. As with the previous show, the presentation ran alongside the Game Festival, consisting of playable demos and additional in-game content. The show introduced the award's first Future Class, a list of individuals from across the video game industry who best represent the future of video games. The inductees included industry professionals such as Kinda Funny's Blessing Adeoye Jr., Naughty Dog's Halley Gross, and GameSpot Kallie Plagge. The presentation was aired on December 10, 2020, live streamed across more than 45 online platforms. It aired on more than ten networks in China, including Bilibili, Douyin, and Huya Live, and on several networks in India including Disney+ Hotstar, JioTV, and MX Player.
Announcements Around April and May in 2020, Keighley was worried about a potential lack of game announcements due to the impact of COVID-19 on the industry; however, several developers were able to submit their announcements and trailers for demonstration. Announcements on recently released and upcoming games were made for:
Among Us Back 4 Blood Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Disco Elysium Dragon Age 4 Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout Fortnite Forza Horizon 4 The Elder Scrolls Online It Takes Two Microsoft Flight Simulator Monster Hunter Rise Myst Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139... Oddworld: Soulstorm Outriders Overcooked! All You Can Eat Returnal Scarlet Nexus Scavengers Sea of Solitude Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge Super Meat Boy Forever Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Warframe
New games announced during the ceremony included:
Ark II The Callisto Protocol Century: Age of Ashes Crimson Desert Endless Dungeon Evil Dead: The Game Evil West F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection Just Cause Mobile Loop Hero Untitled Mass Effect game Open Roads Perfect Dark Road 96 Season: A Letter to the Future Shady Part of Me Tchia We Are OFK
Winners and nominees
The nominees for The Game Awards 2020 were announced on November 18, 2020. Any game released on or before November 20, 2020 was eligible for consideration. The nominees were compiled by a jury panel with members from 96 media outlets globally; ballots were sent to outlets on October 29 and due back on November 6, though they had until November 13 to submit updated ballots. Outlets were required to submit three games for each category to determine the nominees. Winners were determined between the jury (90%) and public votes (10%); the latter was held via the official website and on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and closed on December 9. The two exceptions were the Most Anticipated Game and Player's Voice awards, which were fully nominated and voted-on by the public; the former was determined exclusively on Twitter and announced during the show, and the latter was announced on December 8 after several rounds of voting. A new Innovation in Accessibility award was added for games that featured notable accessibility options. Around 18.3 million people participated in the public vote, doubling from the previous show.
Awards Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ().
Video games Game of the Year The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Doom Eternal – id Software / Bethesda Softworks Final Fantasy VII Remake – Square Enix Ghost of Tsushima – Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment Hades – Supergiant Games | valign="top" | The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment Final Fantasy VII Remake – Square Enix Ghost of Tsushima – Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment Hades – Supergiant Games Half-Life: Alyx – Valve |- ! style="background:#eedd82" | ! style="background:#eedd82" | |- | valign="top" | The Last of Us Part II – Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim – George Kamitani Final Fantasy VII Remake – Kazushige Nojima, Motomu Toriyama, Hiroaki Iwaki, and Sachie Hirano Ghost of Tsushima – Ian Ryan, Liz Albl, Patrick Downs, and Jordan Lemos Hades – Greg Kasavin | valign="top" | Ghost of Tsushima – Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment Final Fantasy VII Remake – Square Enix Hades – Supergiant Games The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios |- ! style="background:#eedd82" | ! style="background:#eedd82" | |- | valign="top" | Final Fantasy VII Remake – Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, and Mitsuto Suzuki Doom Eternal – Mick Gordon Hades – Darren Korb The Last of Us Part II – Gustavo Santaolalla and Mac Quayle Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Gareth Coker | valign="top" | The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment Doom Eternal – id Software / Bethesda Softworks Ghost of Tsushima – Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment Half-Life: Alyx – Valve Resident Evil 3 – Capcom |- ! style="background:#eedd82" | ! style="background:#eedd82" | |- | valign="top" | Laura Bailey as Abby – The Last of Us Part II Logan Cunningham as Hades – Hades Nadji Jeter as Miles Morales – Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ashley Johnson as Ellie – The Last of Us Part II Daisuke Tsuji as Jin Sakai – Ghost of Tsushima Tell Me Why – Dontnod Entertainment / Xbox Game Studios If Found... – Dreamfeel / Annapurna Interactive Kentucky Route Zero – Cardboard Computer / Annapurna Interactive Spiritfarer – Thunder Lotus Games Through the Darkest of Times – Paintbucket Games / HandyGames No Man's Sky – Hello Games Apex Legends – Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts Call of Duty: Warzone – Infinity Ward / Raven Software / Activision Destiny 2 – Bungie Fortnite – Epic Games Hades – Supergiant Games Carrion – Phobia Game Studio / Devolver Digital Fall Guys – Mediatonic / Devolver Digital Spelunky 2 – Mossmouth Spiritfarer – Thunder Lotus Games Among Us – Innersloth Call of Duty: Mobile – TiMi Studios / Activision Genshin Impact – miHoYo Legends of Runeterra – Riot Games Pokémon Café Mix – Genius Sonority / The Pokémon Company Fall Guys – Mediatonic / Devolver Digital Apex Legends – Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts Destiny 2 – Bungie Fortnite – Epic Games No Man's Sky – Hello Games Valorant – Riot Games Half-Life: Alyx – Valve Dreams – Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment Iron Man VR – Camouflaj / Sony Interactive Entertainment Star Wars Squadrons – Motive Studios / Electronic Arts The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Skydance Interactive The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment Assassin's Creed Valhalla – Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Grounded – Obsidian Entertainment / Xbox Game Studios HyperDot – Tribe Games / GLITCH Watch Dogs Legion – Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft Hades – Supergiant Games Doom Eternal – id Software / Bethesda Softworks Half-Life: Alyx – Valve Nioh 2 – Team Ninja Streets of Rage 4 – Dotemu The Last of Us Part II – Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment Assassin's Creed Valhalla – Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Ghost of Tsushima – Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts Final Fantasy VII Remake – Square Enix