The Game Awards 2020

Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross were awarded Best Narrative. Druckmann also accepted the awards for Game of the Year and Best Game Direction, while Gross was also included in the show's Future Class.

Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu won Best Score and Music alongside Mitsuto Suzuki (not pictured).

Laura Bailey won Best Performance.

Sean Murray, lead director of No Man's Sky, accepted the award for Best Ongoing Game on behalf of Hello Games.

Kurt Margenau, co-game director of The Last of Us Part II, accepted the award for Best Action/Adventure Game on behalf of Naughty Dog.

Valkyrae won Content Creator of the Year.

Heo "Showmaker" Su of Damwon Gaming was awarded Best Esports Athlete.

Danny "Zonic" Sørensen of Astralis won Best Esports Coach for the second year in a row.

Sjokz won Best Esports Host for the third consecutive year.

The nominees for The Game Awards 2020 were announced on November 18, 2020.[3] Any game released on or before November 20, 2020 was eligible for consideration.[4] The nominees were compiled by a jury panel with members from 96 media outlets globally;[5] 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.[4] Winners are 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.[6] The two exceptions were the Most Anticipated Game and Player's Voice awards, which were fully nominated and voted-on by the public;[7][8] the former was determined exclusively on Twitter and announced during the show,[7] and the latter was announced on December 8 after several rounds of voting.[8] A new Innovation in Accessibility award was also added for games that featured notable accessibility options.[9] Around 18.3 million people participated in the public vote, doubling from the previous show.[10]

The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards, introduced trailers, or performed musical numbers. All other awards were presented by Geoff Keighley or Sydnee Goodman.[1][12][13][14]

Geoff Keighley hosted and produced The Game Awards 2020.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, show creator and producer Geoff Keighley did not want to host a normal ceremony for the 2020 show.[17] Not wanting to take a hiatus and inspired by the success of Summer Game Fest,[5] he considered hosting the show from his home, but his board urged him to attempt a larger show on par with previous years.[18] In case of a significant surge of COVID-19 cases in California, the crew had several back-up plans for the show, including broadcasting from Keighley's house.[2] Keighley worked with his partners to develop a virtual show.[17] 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,[19] as well as the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, wherein the hosts were isolated on stage and the nominees accepted via video call.[18] While developing the show, Keighley also spoke to hundreds of viewers via Zoom to discuss their own interests;[18] these calls often included other industry figures, such as Valve Corporation president Gabe Newell and Epic Games creative director Donald Mustard.[20]

The presentation used three soundstages in Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo; each location had minimal attendees, mostly related to production crew and presenters. Keighley said that this allows them to include additional presentation events as with past shows, as well as explore taking future shows to different venues.[17] According to Keighley, the theme of the show was about strength and comfort, given the impact of the pandemic. He 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 all sharing the stage.[20] Keighley felt that 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.[5]

Keighley noted that the 2020 show was the most expensive to date, partly due to the COVID-19 tests required for the crew and the worldwide remote camera set-ups.[2] As with the previous show, the presentation ran alongside the Game Festival, consisting of playable demos and additional in-game content.[18] 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's Kallie Plagge.[21] The presentation was aired on December 10, 2020, live streamed across more than 45 online platforms. It was executive produced by Keighley and Kimmie Kim, and directed by Richard Preuss. LeRoy Bennett returned to serve as creative director.[22]

• Official website