The Game Awards hit another record, with the 2019 Awards being the highest viewed Game Awards yet. Over 45.2 million showed up to watch the show, a 73% increase from last year’s 26.2 million viewers and the new record for the show. Additionally, it was noted that there were around 7.5 million concurrent viewers at its peak, with 2 million of them being across Twitch and YouTube. The show, which happened on December 12th, 2019, is currently sitting up there as one of the most viewed entertainment award shows.
Host, creator, and producer of The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley, expressed his gratitude at the immense growth the show has seen:
We are grateful and humbled by the continued growth of The Game Awards over the past six years. These record-setting results show that gaming culture continues to reach new audiences around the globe, and these numbers re-affirm our distribution approach of streaming the show live and free across more than 50 digital video platforms.
With all the exciting announcements made during The Game Awards, it’s no wonder so many people chose to tune in. From the first PlayStation 5 game, Godfall, being announced, to classic series like The Wolf Among Us 2 being brought back, to even completely new surprises like Weird West and Fast & Furious: Crossroads. Even the non-PlayStation announcements, like the Xbox Series X reveal and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, were exciting. Combine this with musical acts by Green Day, CHVRCHES, and Grimes, and you also had fun gaming-related musical interludes to keep you entertained.
Then there are the actual awards themselves. We got to see what critics thought was the best game of the year, and which games would take home awards in a large variety of categories. To the surprise of many, this year’s Game of the Year award went to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Other big winners included Disco Elysium, which walked away with four awards that night, and Death Stranding with three. Now we only have to wait and see which games come out in 2020 that will be deserving of that year’s awards, and see how Keighley will continue growth and improvement for the show.
