The 10 Can't-Miss Announcements From The 2024 Game Awards

The show's 10th anniversary popped off, with Snoop Dogg performing some bangers, 'Astro Bot' winning Game of the Year, and a rare Harrison Ford appearance.

December 13, 2024

Troy Baker (left), Harrison Ford (middle), and Todd Howard (right) present the Best Performance trophy at The Game Awards' 10th anniversary in 2024.

Image via Complex (Screenshot, The Game AwardsT).

The Game Awards celebrated its 10th anniversary on December 12 with a star-studded show featuring mainstream celebrities and iconic game designers.

Increasingly, the Game Awards has become a platform for companies to hype their upcoming projects and debut their first-look trailers. This is an odd precedent for an awards ceremony—imagine if the Oscars interspersed the award announcements with movie trailers. It'd feel like a giant ad.

But it works here for a couple of reasons. Games are, by definition, an interactive medium, and a trailer that shows a character we will play as or an environment we will one day explore is as interactive as it gets

That's a nice reason, but the second—and likely most important—reason is views. Views and money. Even in a strong year, it's hard to convince people to sit through a multi-hour awards show, but even casual gamers will tune in for a world premiere or an exclusive announcement. Here are all the major highlights at the 2024 Game Awards—the winners and losers, the celebrities, and the titles we look forward to covering in 2025 and beyond.

1. **Snoop Dogg Pulled Up With Missionary Bars And Other Appearances**

The Game Awards invited celebrities to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Snoop Dogg performed two tracks: his classic "Gin and Juice" from his 1993 record Doggystyle and "Thank You" from his upcoming Dr. Dre-produced album Missionary.

Twenty One Pilots performed a selection of music from their soundtrack for Arcane, which was pretty cool. A huge biggest surprise of the night, though, was definitely Harrison Ford, who showed up to present the Game Award for Best Performance. Anytime the reclusive actor from Star Wars and Indiana Jones attends a public gathering is cause for celebration.

2. Borderlands 4 Gets An Official Reveal Trailer

The quintessential post-apocalyptic looter shooter is back, and it seems like the stakes are going to be higher than ever before. The new trailer opens with an all-out planetary war as an army of bandits charge against the Timekeeper's engineered soldiers. We also see some glimpses of familiar faces, including fan favorite Zane from Borderlands 2 and 3.

3. The Witcher IV Puts Geralt's Daughter Ciri In Control

One of the biggest announcements at this year's Game Awards showcase was probably the trailer for The Witcher IV. In 2015, The Witcher 3 was the most critically acclaimed game of the year, and today, it is considered one of the greatest video games of all time, period. The Witcher IV, currently in development, will star Geralt of Rivia's daughter, Ciri of Cintra, as the titular monster hunter, and its trailer features stunning graphics and engaging voice work. Here's to the next evolution of the action RPG genre.

4. The Mafia Series Is Back With A Prequel Called The Old Country

The new Mafia game is a prequel to the prior entries. Mafia III took some risks, moving the setting to a more open-world New Orleans with Vietnam veteran Lincoln Clay as the protagonist. That was cool, but instead of moving forward in time, the series is hitting rewind this time around. The Old Country takes the Mafia franchise back to its roots, setting its action in early 1900s Sicily and opting for a more linear, cinematic feel.

5. The Like a Dragon Devs Start A New Game: Project Century

The same developers that brought us the Yakuza and Like a Dragon games are working on a new Japanese epic titled Project Century. But whereas those earlier games were satirical and broadly comedic, this one seems a bit grittier and bloodier, with a darker and downtrodden vibe.

6. The It Takes Two Team Returns With The Co-op Adventure Split Fiction

Game developer Josef Fares (Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, A Way Out) had an incredible breakthrough with his co-op game It Takes Two, which Complex named its Game of the Year in 2021. His latest project is Split Fiction, another co-op adventure that flips between a fantasy world and a sci-fi world. Best of all, we won't have to wait long. It drops on March 6.

7. Fight Alongside Jon Snow In Game of Thrones: Kingsroad

Winter is coming next year. It may have been some time since we saw Jon Snow's face, but the brooding raven-haired soldier is back as an NPC in a new Game of Thrones-based action RPG. That's right: you get to fight alongside a digitized Kit Harington in Kingsroad. — Levi Winslow

8. PlayStation's Astro Bot Wins The 2024 Game Of The Year Award

In a year with heavy hitters in the running like Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth and Metaphor: ReFantazio, it was Astro Bot—the adorable, giddily creative platformer—that took home the top prize. It is, for lack of a better word, the "gamiest" game of the nominees, entirely dependent on play and design rather than story and cinematics. Its win also comes at an auspicious time; Astro Bot is a celebration of all things PlayStation, and 2024 is PlayStation's 30th anniversary.

9. Here Are All The Winners Of The Game Awards' 10th Anniversary Ceremony

After about three hours of gaming advertisements and awards, the winners have been crowned. Astro Bot clinched a total of three awards. Online multiplayer shooter Helldivers 2, while action RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio, and deck-building game Balatro each snatched two. For all the rest, read below. And yes, Grand Theft Auto VI won an award: