The Game Awards 2023 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Game Awards 2023
Host	Geoff Keighley
Date	December 7, 2023 (2023-12-07)
Country	United States
< 2022 The Game Awards 2024 >

The Game Awards 2023 was a big event that celebrated the best video games of 2023. It was the tenth show of its kind, hosted by Geoff Keighley. He is the person who created and produces The Game Awards. This exciting show happened live at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, on December 7, 2023. Sydnee Goodman hosted a special show before the main event. People all over the world could watch it live online on many different websites.

The show had cool musical performances, like from Old Gods of Asgard. Famous guests also appeared, including Timothée Chalamet, Christopher Judge, and Matthew McConaughey. The game Baldur's Gate 3 was a huge winner. It was nominated nine times and won six awards, including the top prize: Game of the Year. Neil Newbon also won an award for his amazing acting in Baldur's Gate 3. Many new games were announced during the show, such as Marvel's Blade, OD, and Visions of Mana.

About The Game Awards 2023

Geoff Keighley (left) hosted the main show while Sydnee Goodman (right) hosted the preshow.

Just like in past years, Geoff Keighley hosted and produced The Game Awards 2023. He worked with Kimmie Kim as an executive producer. Richard Preuss and LeRoy Bennett were also back as director and creative director. Sydnee Goodman hosted the 30-minute show before the main event, called "Opening Act."

The show took place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California. It was on December 7, 2023. People could watch it live online all over the world. It was streamed on popular platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Twitch, X, and YouTube.

Tickets for the public went on sale on November 6. They sold out in just one week, faster than ever before! The show also had more security than usual. This was because of some unexpected interruptions at the 2022 show and another event called Gamescom's Opening Night Live. Geoff Keighley said the main show and the preshow would last about three hours together.

The Game Awards 2023 also featured the "Future Class." This is a list of 50 people who are making a big difference in the video game world. They represent the future of gaming. The list was announced on December 5. It included people like Emma Kidwell, a writer for Marvel's Midnight Suns, and accessibility expert Ross Minor.

New Game Reveals

Geoff Keighley decided not to use the term "world premiere" for new game announcements this year. Instead, all new content was treated equally. Many exciting announcements were made for games that are already out or coming soon.

Here are some brand new games that were announced for the very first time:

Winners and Nominees

The games nominated for awards were announced on November 13, 2023. Any game released by November 17 could be considered. A group of experts from over 100 media outlets around the world chose the nominees. Special groups of judges picked nominees for categories like accessibility, adaptations, and esports.

The winners were chosen based on two things: the judges' votes (90%) and public voting (10%). People could vote on the official website and Discord until December 6. The only exception was the "Players' Voice" award, which was chosen entirely by public votes. Voting for this award started on November 27. Geoff Keighley mentioned that voting on the website on the first day was 73% higher than the year before!

The Game Awards also teamed up with Nighttimes and Studio 568 to create a special area in Fortnite. This area was available from November 14. Players could vote for their favorite user-made islands from ten nominees. The winner was announced during the awards show. Geoff Keighley hopes to have live viewing of the show inside games in the future. He thinks this is a better way to promote the show than traditional ads. The Fortnite hub world had over one million plays in just three days!

Award Winners

Here are the winners and nominees for each award. The winners are listed first and are in bold letters, marked with a double dagger ().

Top Game Awards

Swen Vincke accepted Game of the Year for Baldur's Gate 3.

Sam Lake accepted Best Game Direction and Best Narrative for Alan Wake 2.

Neil Newbon won Best Performance for his role as Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3.

Shuhei Yoshida accepted Games for Impact for Tchia.

Eiji Aonuma accepted Best Action/Adventure Game for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Doug Bowser accepted Best Family Game for Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Neil Druckmann accepted Best Adaptation for The Last of Us alongside Asad Qizilbash.

Esports and Creators

Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok won Best Esports Athlete.

Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam, an esports coach, asked for his name to be removed from the "Best Esports Coach" nomination. This was because he hadn't coached any professional games in 2023.

Games with Many Nominations and Awards

Most Nominations

Baldur's Gate 3 received the most nominations with nine. Alan Wake 2 and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 followed with eight nominations each. Nintendo led all publishers with 15 nominations. Sony Interactive Entertainment had 10 nominations. Besides game publishers, PlayStation Productions got three nominations for its TV shows and movies in the "Best Adaptation" category.

Most Awards Won

Baldur's Gate 3 from Larian Studios won the most awards with six. Alan Wake 2 from Epic Games won three awards. Forza Motorsport from Xbox Game Studios won two awards. Nintendo also won three awards, while Capcom and Square Enix each won two.

Presenters and Performers

Presenters

These people presented awards or showed new game trailers. Geoff Keighley or Sydnee Goodman presented all other awards.

Performers

These people or groups performed music during the show. Pedro Eustache, known as "Flute Guy" from the 2022 show, played with The Game Awards Orchestra again.