It can’t be said enough that 2020 has certainly been a weird year for video games. While it hasn’t been the most conventional console release year, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S are coming out this fall for console gaming fans to sink their teeth into. For some it may be crazy to think that just last year, at The Game Awards in 2019, the Xbox Series X was first unveiled at what seems like a lifetime ago. Now in 2020, both the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 consoles will be released before this year’s awards show airs.
While game announcements and reveals have been a bit sporadic this year, The Game Awards are still happening this December to celebrate gaming in 2020. Aside from the rewards ceremony itself, The Game Awards is usually host to plenty of upcoming game announcements as well, and 2020 should be no different. Surprisingly enough, even in the year of Covid-19, there have still been plenty of game announcements and releases slated for 2021 like God of War and Far Cry 6. The Game Awards will likely have plenty of surprises in store, even in the wake of Covid-19 slowing down the games industry.
Live crowd reactions or in-person interviews probably won’t be a thing, but The Game Awards should be as grand as ever. Much like Gamescom’s Opening Night Live, Geoff Keighley’s premier award show carries a lot of weight in the games industry now. Many of the games that are receiving a 2021 release could theoretically be teased at The Game Awards this December. Reveals at the Game Awards have progressively gotten bigger and better over with each subsequent show; with last year’s show unveiling the first PS5 game Godfall, the confirmation of a Hellblade sequel, alongside the reveal of the actual Xbox Series X itself.
Considering 2022 is already shaping up to be a great year for game releases, The Game Awards would certainly be a prime show to unveil trailers for any new games coming in 2021-2022. Considering titles like the next God of War have already been unveiled, there’s a high chance many of the PS5/Xbox Series X games already announced could get demos or full-length trailers of some kind. The pandemic hasn’t necessarily slowed down any of the marketing hype or reveals in the gaming industry, at least for upcoming games. It’s the games in earlier development that have been hurt the most, so don’t expect titles like Suicide Squad to appear at The Game Awards.
The only problem with a lot of the potential reveals for The Game Awards is that they may largely encompass titles that aren’t coming anytime soon. At least with brand new announcements, it’s very likely any game that fans haven’t heard of already isn’t releasing in 2021 at this point. Fans were shocked that in the PS5’s latest showcase alone, several 2021 titles were revealed for Sony’s console. Xbox boss Phil Spencer had mentioned that the video games industry won’t truly feel the effects of Covid-19 until 2021. That’s likely a true sentiment, but it may not have been in reference to the game’s releasing that year, but rather in terms of game development and announcements.
Of course, fans would love for Spencer to be proven wrong, but the reality is game development is much more difficult with work-from-home/shelter-in-place guidelines and mandates in place. A lot of games have already been confirmed for release in the 2021-2022 window, so a large majority of the reveals from The Game Awards likely won’t have a date/release window attached to them. Even if they do, expect late 2021/2022 for most announcements.
That being said, the awards show is still the perfect opportunity to get the word out early for most games. Fans will just need to temper their expectations, at least in terms of release dates, but otherwise The Game Awards is already looking very promising this year.
The Game Awards 2020 airs on December 10, 2020.
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