The Game Awards 2021 will honor the year’s best video games and debut exclusive trailers — here’s how to watch live on December 9

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Metroid Dread is one of six nominees for Game of the Year at the 2021 Game Awards.

Metroid Dread / Nintendo

The Game Awards 2021 will be livestreamed on December 9 at 8 p.m. ET from Los Angeles.
There are 30 award categories and you can expect debut trailers for upcoming video games and movies.
You can watch The Game Awards on multiple platforms including YouTube, Twitch, Twitter and Facebook.

The Game Awards 2021 will honor the year’s best video games and unveil multiple world premiere trailers for upcoming games and movies during a live ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The event will be streamed online starting at 8 p.m. ET across multiple platforms, including YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook Live, and more.

While most of the special announcements will be kept secret until The Game Awards begin, you can expect trailers for Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad game, a debut trailer for the “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” movie, and a first look at the “Halo” TV series coming to Paramount Plus in 2022. Fans are still speculating on what announcements we’ll see from major publishers like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft.

How to watch The Game Awards 2021

You can watch The Game Awards 2021 live on many different streaming and social platforms, including YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and Facebook Live. The show is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET. Visit the official website for a full list of places where you can watch the stream, and international start times. The stream is free to watch on all platforms. You can find the YouTube feed embedded below.

Awards will be distributed across more than 20 categories, including Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, and genre specific awards like Best Action Game and Best Fighting Game. Gamers can vote for their picks in each category, but the winners are ultimately decided by a jury panel of more than 100 members, with fan votes accounting for 10 percent of the final decision.

Along with celebrating the best video games of 2021, The Game Awards will feature live musical performances by Sting, Imagine Dragons, and the Game Awards orchestra, as well as celebrity appearances from Keanu Reeves, Jim Carrey, Giancarlo Esposito, and more.

The Game Awards 2021 nominees

Game of the Year

Deathloop Juliana — Deathloop / Bethesda Softworks

Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam/Nintendo)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil Village (Capcom)

Best Game Direction

Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)

Best Narrative

Life is Strange True Colors / Square Enix

Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine/Square Enix)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/Square Enix)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)

Best Ongoing Game

Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker — Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker / Square Enix

Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Call of Duty: Warzone (Infinity Ward/Raven/Activision)
Final Fantasy XIV Online (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)

Best Art Direction

The Artful Escape / Annapurna Interactive

Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna)

Most Anticipated Game

Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)

Best Community Support

Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV Online (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Action/Adventure

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal/Square Enix)
Metroid Dread (Mercury Steam/Nintendo)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine/Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil Village (Capcom)

Best Role Playing

Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)
Scarlet Nexus (Bandai Namco)
Shin Megami Tensei V (Atlus/Sega)
Tales of Arise (Bandai Namco)

Best Multiplayer

Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock/WB Games)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
Knockout City (Velan Studios/EA)
Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom)
New World (Amazon Games)
Valheim (Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain)

Best Fighting Game

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles (CyberConnect2/Sega)
Guilty Gear -Strive- (Arc System Works)
Melty Blood: Type Lumina (French-Bread/Delightworks)
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill)
Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown (Sega)

Best Family Game

It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/EA)
Mario Party Superstars (NDcube/Nintendo)
New Pokémon Snap (Bandai Namco/The Pokémon Company/Nintendo)
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Nintendo)
WarioWare: Get It Together! (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)

Best Sim/Strategy

Microsoft Flight Simulator / Xbox Game Studios

Age of Empires IV (Relic Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios)
Evil Genius 2: World Domination (Rebellion Developments)
Humankind (Amplitude Studios/Sega)
Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver)
Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios)

Best Sports/Racing Game

F1 2021 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
FIFA 22 (EA Vancouver/EA Sports)
Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios)
Hot Wheels Unleashed (Milestone)
Riders Republic (Ubisoft Annecy/Ubisoft)

Best Action

Back 4 Blood (Turtle Rock/WB Games)
Chivalry II (Torn Banner Studios/Tripwire Interactive)
Deathloop (Arkane Studios/Bethesda)
Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft)
Returnal (Housemarque/SIE)

Best VR/AR

Hitman 3 (IO Interactive)
I Expect You To Die 2 (Schell Games)
Lone Echo II (Ready at Dawn/Oculus Studios)
Resident Evil 4 (Armature Studio/Capcom/Oculus Studios)
Sniper Elite VR (Coatsink/Just Add Water/Rebellion Developments)

Best Mobile Game

Fantasian (Mistwalker)
Genshin Impact (MiHoYo)
League of Legends: Wild Rift (Riot Games)
Marvel Future Revolution (Netmarble)
Pokemon Unite (TiMi Studios/The Pokemon Company)

Best Indie

12 Minutes (Luis Antonio/Annapurna Interactive)
Death’s Door (Acid Nerve/Devolver Digital)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver Digital)
Loop Hero (Four Quarters/Devolver Digital)

Best Debut Indie

Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
Sable (Shedworks/Raw Fury)
The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna)
The Forgotten City (Modern Storyteller/Dear Villagers)
Valheim (Iron Gate/Coffee Stain)

Games for Impact

Before Your Eyes (GoodbyeWorld Games/Skybound Games)
Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Games)
Chicory (Greg Lobanow, Alexis Dean-Jones, Lena Raine, Madeline Berger, A Shell in the Pit/Finji)
Life is Strange: True Colors (Deck Nine/Square Enix)
No Longer Home (Humble Grove, Hana Lee, Cel Davison, Adrienne Lombardo, Eli Rainsberry/Fellow Traveler)

Best Performance