Today, Geoff Keighley and the organizers of the The Game Awards have announced that this year’s show set a new global record with more than 83 million livestreams. This is an increase of 84% from last year’s 45.2 million livestreams. The show aired live across more than 40 streaming networks around the world. On Twitch, the show reached a peak concurrent audience of more than 2.63 million viewers, more than double last year. 9,000 creators co-streamed the show, up 91% from 4,700 co-streamers last year. Live viewership more than doubled on YouTube. The official livestream saw an 84% increase in peak concurrent viewers. In total, live hours watched climbed more than 129% across Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Gaming, according to Stream Hatchet.
“In this most challenging of years, the video game industry has continued to deliver for its fans,” Geoff Keighley, Producer, The Game Awards said. “We are deeply humbled to see that excitement translate into these record-setting results, with significant upticks in total viewership, watch time, and social engagement around the world.”
Globally, The Game Awards aired across more than 40 digital video networks. Internationally, the program aired in more than a dozen networks in China, India, Japan, South East Asia, Korea, and Brazil.
On Twitter, The Game Awards saw a 31% increase in conversation volume year over year, and unique authors up 65%, making this the most talked about Game Awards to date. The show trended #1 worldwide with 12 of the 29 worldwide trends being about the show. Usage of #TheGameAwards on Twitter increased by 107% YoY. Historically, The livestream numbers have increased every year since 2014. In 2014, there were 1.9 million viewers, 2015: 23 million (up 23%), 2016: 3.8 million (up 65%), 2017: 11.5 million (up 202%) 2018: 26.2 million (up 128%), 2019: 45.2 million (up 73%), 2020: 83 million (up 84%).
The Game Awards 2020 saw more than 30 world premieres such as Tchia, Perfect Dark, The Callisto Protocol, Crimson Desert, Ark II, Evil Dead: The Game, Returnal, Monster Hunter Rise, It Takes Two, Fortnite, Ghosts’n Goblins, Dragon Age and Mass Effect.
The Last of Us Part II won a total of seven awards including Game of the Year. You can find the full list of winners here.