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Everything we know about The Game Awards 2018

Everything you need to know about The Game Awards 2018, including big reveals

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Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards will have its fifth anniversary this year, and if it’s anything like the shows we’ve seen in years past, it will feature not only recognition for the year’s best games, but also lifetime achievement awards, musical performances, and plenty of new game announcements.

Next to E3 and Gamescom, The Game Awards is one of the biggest events of the year, and we’re giddy with anticipation for 2018’s show. Here’s everything you need to know about The Game Awards, including its date, location, how to watch, categories and nominees.

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When and where is it?

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Game Awards will be held on Thursday, December 6 at 8:30 p.m. ET. The event will take place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, CA and tickets are currently available to purchase at AXS.

Last year’s show ran for about three hours, so you can expect it to end around midnight. This doesn’t allow enough time for all of the awards being given out that night, so we suggest you check the official website for the full list of winners.

How to watch the Game Awards 2018

The Game Awards aren’t available on television, but you can stream them from a variety of different services across multiple devices. Last year’s show was streamed on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook Live, Steam, and Mixer, as well as directly through Xbox One and PlayStation. We’ll be showing one of the broadcasts on Digital Trends, as well, so you can watch right here if you don’t want to go to a different website.

YouTube and Twitch are both great options for The Game Awards, but in the past, there has been some form of interactivity when viewing it directly on game consoles. If you want to vote along with other viewers, this could be the best option.

How nominees and winners are selected

Last year, the nominees for The Game Awards’ many gaming categories were selected by a jury of 51 different outlets, each of whom picked five games per category. The three esports categories were picked by a separate esports jury.

Winners were primarily determined by the juries themselves, who got 90 percent of the voting power, while fans got 10 percent in most categories. Fans were the sole voters on the winners in the Best Esports Game, Best Esports Player, Best Esports Team, Most Anticipated Game, and Trending Gamer categories. Keighley also revealed that fans will be able to vote using Discord Server Vote in 2018.

The Game Awards 2018 reveals

The Game Awards is not just an awards show; it’s an event that showcases new and upcoming games as well. A number of upcoming titles will be revealed during The Game Awards, and we already know a handful that will be on the menu.

New Far Cry game

Tune in for a worldwide reveal at #TheGameAwards on December 6, at 5:30PM PST/8:30PM EST.

— Far Cry (@FarCrygame) December 5, 2018

Ubisoft is gearing up to announce a new Far Cry experience. A teaser trailer posted on Twitter appears to show Hope County — the setting of Far Cry 5 — getting nuked and sent into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The conversation surrounding the teaser suggests that this will be more of a spinoff than “Far Cry 6,” but we shall see.

‘CTR: Crash Team Racing’ remaster

After a not-so-subtle teaser image began circulating the internet, Activision is expected to announce a remastered version of CTR: Crash Team Racing, the 1999 original PlayStation cart racer.

‘Dragon Age 4’

In November, BioWare teased that it had a Dragon Age announcement in store for December. Many expect Dragon Age 4 to be announced during The Game Awards. There’s a catch, though. Dragon Age 4 is still at least three years away from launch, according to a VentureBeat report.

‘Metroid Prime Trilogy’

Chalk this one up as more of a rumor, but after a listing appeared on Swedish retailer Inet, Reddit and Twitter users are convinced the Metroid Prime Trilogy will be announced for Switch during the show. Even if the rumor turns out to be false, the collection could still be in the cards for Switch. Journalist Liam Robertson, who has been right about Nintendo scoops before, claims that Metroid Prime Trilogy is in development for Switch.

The Game Awards 2018 categories and nominees

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Geoff Keighley revealed the nominees for The Game Awards on November 13. We’ve listed the game-specific nominees below.

Game of the Year

Best Game Direction

  • God of War
  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man
  • A Way Out
  • Detroit: Become Human

Best Narrative

  • God of War
  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man
  • Detroit: Become Human
  • Life is Strange: Episode 2

Best Art Direction

  • Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
  • Detroit: Become Human
  • Octopath Traveler
  • God of War
  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Return of the Obra Dinn

Best Score/Music

  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Octopath Traveler
  • God of War
  • Celeste
  • Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man

Best Audio Design

Best Performance

  • Christopher Judge – God of War
  • Yuri Lowenthal — Marvel’s Spider-Man
  • Roger Clark – Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Melissanthi Mahut — Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
  • Bryan Dechart – Detroit: Become Human

Games for Impact

  • 11-11 Memories Retold
  • Florence
  • Life is Strange 2: Episode 1
  • The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories
  • Celeste

Best Ongoing Game

Best Mobile Game

  • Fortnite
  • PUBG Mobile
  • Donut County
  • Reigns: Game of Thrones
  • Florence

Best VR/AR Game

  • Astro Bot Rescue Mission
  • Firewall: Zero Hour
  • Tetris Effect
  • Beat Sabre
  • Moss

Best Action Game

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
  • Dead Cells
  • Destiny 2: Forsaken
  • Far Cry 5
  • Mega Man 11

Best Action/Adventure Game

  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man
  • God of War
  • Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Best RPG

Best Fighting Game

  • Dragon Ball FighterZ
  • Soulcalibur VI
  • BlaZBlue: Cross Tag Battle
  • Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition

Best Family Game

  • Mario Tennis Aces
  • Nintendo Labo
  • Super Mario Party
  • Overcooked 2
  • Starlink: Battle for Atlas

Best Strategy Game

  • Into the Breach
  • BattleTech
  • Frostpunk
  • The Banner Saga 3
  • Valkyria Chronicles 4

Best Sports/Racing Game

Best Multiplayer 

Best Student Game

  • Combat 2018
  • Dash Quasar
  • Jera
  • Liff
  • RE: Charge

Best Independent Game

Best Debut Indie Game

  • Donut County
  • Florence
  • Moss
  • The Messenger
  • Yoku’s Island Express

Best Esports Game 

  • Overwatch
  • Fortnite
  • League of Legends
  • Dota 2
  • CS: Go

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Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
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