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Sean Murray accepts accolades for No Man’s Sky, which won Best Ongoing Game last year <\/article>\nIn October, I caught up with Keighley as he was finalizing plans for this year\u2019s show. He once again serves the dual duties of producer and host. He has always been open about the ups and downs of The Game Awards<\/em>, and always seems relaxed, no matter how close the show is to airing. This year, he tells me he has too many World Premiere reveals and feels terrible turning publishers down.<\/p>\n The Game Awards<\/em> grew from 45 million viewers to an unfathomable 80 million in one year. Given we were sheltering in place during the Covid-19 pandemic, can you speak to how the growth was potentially tied to that?<\/strong> It was really challenging to pull it together and do things over Zoom and figure out how to do it safely with our team with all the testing and everything around it. The victory was just getting to do the show. I was kind of depressed for months thinking that we weren\u2019t going to be able to do it. The fact that it actually did so well was incredible. Seeing it grow was really heartwarming.<\/p>\n There are always two sides to the coin, though. Success on one, and on the other, the pressure for this year. Can we keep growing? We never think about the audience numbers. We don\u2019t sit around and plot a strategy to get another 10 million viewers. We just focus on making an awesome show for the community.<\/p>\n For safety concerns, the pandemic continues to throw kinks into live events. At this point in time, you are planning on returning to an in-person format with an audience. Does it feel like business as usual, or are you planning on having that satellite truck in waiting again?<\/strong> We\u2019re doing a traditional show with some capacity restrictions on the audience and some other requirements. We have to see if people are comfortable traveling, including internationally. We are unsure about that. That\u2019s everyone\u2019s personal decision. I\u2019m excited to be back in a venue. Most of the game companies, when we talk to them this year, they all like the idea of finally being able to get back to doing something in person. I\u2019m honored that we\u2019re sort of the first event that\u2019s going to do something with people gathering in a safe and controlled way.<\/p>\n Given last year\u2019s success, I have a feeling every publisher and developer is jumping at the chance to be a part of the show.<\/strong> The other thing that is in the background is there\u2019s a lot of these streaming shows and movies based on games. We\u2019re trying to figure out how to navigate some of that, like The Witcher and the Cuphead shows, as well as the Uncharted movie. This is the first year we\u2019re trying to navigate how to include some of that stuff. They are based on games, but not actually games.<\/p>\n You said you have more reveals than ever. What can we expect from them?<\/strong> I always tell the story of In the Valley of the Gods from Campo Santo, the studio with Valve now. They came to me two weeks before the show. I\u2019m like, \u201cThis is amazing. Where was this trailer three months ago?\u201d People think [the show] is all plotted out well in advance. Sometimes it is, but oftentimes things are just shifting. I feel pretty confident that we have a really good lineup that\u2019s going to excite people. I\u2019ve also learned that you have to manage expectations because everyone has a different game in their mind\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n I think next year is going to be really exciting for games overall. There\u2019s so much content coming out.<\/p>\n Figuring out where the reveals go has to be a big jigsaw puzzle. Have you figured out what the first and last reveal will be? They always seem to be two of the big ones.<\/strong> Any new awards this year?<\/strong> You mentioned you\u2019re building the biggest set yet. I can\u2019t even wrap my brain around what it could be. You already have giant statues on it, one of the biggest screens out there, and a complete orchestra. What is the space for?<\/strong> How limited will capacity be?<\/strong> You highlighted something a lot of people are feeling about PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X: a lack of games that are built just for those machines. What are your thoughts on next-gen gaming so far?<\/strong> These systems are so powerful, and there\u2019s so much opportunity there, but this has been a difficult year for developers to make these games while working from home. A lot of stuff has been delayed. I have games that we were going to announce last year at The Game Awards, and we\u2019re probably going to announce this year. They were delayed at least a full year. Some people lost a year or two in development. There are a lot of delays that have affected next-gen and that pipeline of content. It was still a good year, but I think next year and beyond are going to be exciting. The thing that I think has happened with a lot of these next-gen boxes is people buy them yet play their old games on them. They look better, right? It\u2019s a better quality of life. The attach rate with these new systems has not been great, partially because of the Game Pass thing, but also to play Warzone or Fortnite or stuff they already have. Even though people are buying the systems, they don\u2019t have those true next-gen showcase titles to play. They are coming. Those are the ones that have been delayed. Performance capture is really hard to do in the middle of Covid. All of these story games that we love take a lot of time to make.<\/p>\n Of any game that hasn\u2019t been announced, what is one game franchise that you want to see come back? What would you love to have as a World Premiere?<\/strong> The Game Awards will be held on December 9, live from Los Angeles\u2019 Microsoft theater. It will broadcast around the world and can be viewed from various streaming services like YouTube and Twitch.<\/i><\/p>\n This article originally appeared in Issue 341<\/a> of Game Informer.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m still amazed we were able to do the show last year. That happened right when the second lockdown was just starting. We were in Los Angeles, and in the days leading into the show, we were unsure what was going to happen. We had a satellite truck parked outside my house just in case I would have to broadcast the show from home. We had this set we were building every day and were worried [the show] would get canceled if the government was going to shut down the city. [The pandemic] was getting increasingly worse, almost every day as we led up to the show. I didn\u2019t believe the show was happening until the day before. I was like, \u201cI guess we\u2019re really going to get a chance to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/an-interview-with-geoff-keighley-about-the-game-awards-2021-and-the-game-hed-love-to-see-announced-2.jpg\")
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\nThe big difference this year is we have vaccines. We had a year of learning the process around how to do these things. We decided pretty early that we\u2019re going to go back to the Microsoft Theater, and we\u2019re going to build our set and have our orchestra there. There are a lot of protocols and costs about, like, doing a show like this, and the testing and everything involved in doing it. We\u2019re planning to do a full-scale show at the theater. This will be our biggest set yet. It\u2019s our biggest production. We\u2019re going full tilt with the full experience, but keeping safety in mind. We do have contingency plans if there is another variant or issues pop up. How can we pivot and sort of do something different?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/an-interview-with-geoff-keighley-about-the-game-awards-2021-and-the-game-hed-love-to-see-announced-3.jpg\")
Nolan North presents the award for Best Multiplayer in 2020 <\/article>\n
\nGenerally, people are really positive on wanting to be a part of the show. And I see some of that is physical presence, but a lot want to contribute content. One of the greatest things last year, was in the middle of a pandemic, all these developers were able to make awesome trailers and give us content to put in the show. In terms of things to be announced at the show, we have more games this year than ever before. We\u2019re in a nice position that people want to be a part of the show. And you know, it\u2019s an award show, but increasingly, I think more we want to use it as a vehicle to kind of share news on games. So that\u2019s this sort of internal balance that we\u2019re striking.<\/p>\n
\nAs always, we try and balance things between brand-new games to updates on games that people really care about. There are also live-service games that could have content dropping the night of the show. This year, we have a lot of stuff being announced for the first time at the show, which is exciting. I feel like next generation has started but it hasn\u2019t really in a way. And I don\u2019t mean that to disparage any existing games, but there\u2019s [new stuff] coming down the pipe from first- and third-parties. The install bases of the current consoles have limited how much stuff is coming out. I believe 2022 is when the jets really get turned on. We\u2019ll have a couple things in our show that I think are going to be truly next-gen. Experiences that I think will excite people about the future and where games go. And I\u2019m not just saying just first-party games. There are technical showpieces that I\u2019m excited about. And then we also have a balance between big franchises with small developers, and smaller teams are doing really interesting things. It\u2019s a constantly moving target. I\u2019ve said this before, but some things drop out the week before the show, and there are also new things that show up on my doorstep a week before the show.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/an-interview-with-geoff-keighley-about-the-game-awards-2021-and-the-game-hed-love-to-see-announced-4.jpg\")
The 2020 show had to make many accommodations for the ongoing pandemic; Innersloth celebrates Among Us winning Best Multiplayer Game from a remote location <\/article>\n
\nGood question. I think I sort of know the last thing, which is going to be really cool. And the first thing, I think I know, but it might shift around a little bit. The positioning of things in the show is always interesting. Some companies are very specific about where they want to be in the show. I honestly do not make those calls until probably about a month before the show when we really see everything that comes in. The minute I say yes to something, something else might show up. We keep it fluid. We definitely have a good sense of the stuff that\u2019s early and late in the show. And then there\u2019s a bunch of cool stuff in the middle of it as well. We want to surprise people with stuff they aren\u2019t expecting.<\/p>\n
\nWe don\u2019t have any new awards. The accessibility award will be back this year. We\u2019ve been toying with a couple categories that I think we\u2019ll add in the future. We\u2019re not quite there yet, though. I think eventually we might do an award for best adaptation with all these streaming shows, movies, comic books, and other things coming out. I think there\u2019s something interesting there. There\u2019s just not enough yet. I think in the next couple of years, that\u2019ll be something. And we\u2019re also thinking a little bit about user-generated content being made in games like Fortnite, Core, and Roblox. Again, I don\u2019t think we\u2019re quite there yet, but that\u2019s one that I think is on the radar for the future. This year, it\u2019s pretty much the same.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/an-interview-with-geoff-keighley-about-the-game-awards-2021-and-the-game-hed-love-to-see-announced-5.jpg\")
Geoff Keighley has been the host and executive producer for The Game Awards since its inception in 2014 <\/article>\n
\nWe just keep adding more every year. We have a really cool video floor that we\u2019re doing that\u2019s kind of a video screen. It\u2019s really interesting. We haven\u2019t revealed some of the musical guests, but we\u2019ve got amazing, huge names doing that. Every year I think we\u2019re slowly building this show into what I hope is the biggest award show in entertainment, which just happens to be about games. We\u2019re cautious this year obviously because of Covid, but that has not stopped us. I think you\u2019ll see it\u2019s definitely our most ambitious set. We\u2019re upping the scale and scope. It\u2019s a little bit of a dangerous game to play, but yeah, we want to keep building, create more of a spectacle.<\/p>\n
\nIt will number in the thousands, but it\u2019s not going to be a full house. We\u2019re just trying to control the numbers a little bit.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/an-interview-with-geoff-keighley-about-the-game-awards-2021-and-the-game-hed-love-to-see-announced-6.jpg\")
Recent years have seen increased involved from Hollywood talent. John David Washington (Tenet) presented last year’s Best Narrative category <\/article>\n
\nI mentioned earlier that I think next-gen has started, but we haven\u2019t really seen a ton of showcases, right? I would say Forza Horizon 5 is really spectacular. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a cool showcase, and I love the DualSense \u2013 that controller just gives people so much opportunity to think of where games are going to go. We haven\u2019t seen a lot of new next-gen IP yet. Returnal is probably the best example of that so far.<\/p>\n
\nI would love to see BioShock come back. I\u2019ve missed that franchise a lot. Infinite, I still think of. I miss that franchise. An awesome new BioShock would be hype. I\u2019m also a Valve fan, so anything Valve-related would be fun to see. One of the best games I played in the past year was Crash Bandicoot 4. That was an awesome game. I wouldn\u2019t mind seeing some of those classic franchises come back in a new way, like a new Jak & Daxter.<\/p>\n
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