There’s a new annual awards show for games, and it aims to unseat Spike TV

By Will Fulton November 11, 2014

nominations game awards 2014 the — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have joined some of the industry’s largest publishers to help kick off the Game Awards, an annual celebration of the flourishing gaming industry and a direct challenge to Spike TV’s own annual awards show. The first event takes place on December 5, 2014 at the Axis Theater in Las Vegas (via Variety).

Gaming personality Geoff Keighley, who has produced Spike’s VGX Game Awards (formerly the VGAs) for the last decade, spearheaded the event. “The ‘Game Awards 2014′ will celebrate our collective love of games and the passion we all hold in our hearts for this incredible entertainment medium,” Keighley said. “Gaming has never been stronger, and this year we will celebrate the fastest-selling launch year ever for new game consoles, the dramatic rise of eSports and mobile gaming around the globe, and preview the games that will make 2015 the biggest year yet.”

Related: No Man’s Sky creator and others see an industry ‘Without Borders’ at D.I.C.E. 2015

The Game Awards’ advisory board includes industry heavyweights like designer Hideo Kojima along with top executives from Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Nintendo, Rockstar Games, Sony, Ubisoft, Valve, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ D.I.C.E. Awards are currently considered “the Oscars of gaming” because its peer-selected awards process mirrors that of Hollywood’s annual celebration.

It’s not yet clear how Game Awards winners will be decided on, but the show’s focus is squarely on people who play games. As such, the Game Awards won’t be broadcast on television; instead, expect to see it streaming on gamer-centric digital channels like PlayStation Network, Steam, and Xbox Live.

Tickets for the event go on sale via TicketMaster on November 11, 2014.

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Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

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