The Game Awards 2019 Was A Huge Success, Organizer Responds To Claims Of Too Many Ads

The Game Awards 2019 was a big success. The show scored 45.2 million livestreams around the world, which is up 73 percent from the 26.2 million people who tuned in for 2018’s show, organizers have announced.

The numbers were announced in a tweet from The Game Awards, and it was also confirmed that the show will return in 2020. No dates were announced, but presumably it will be back in December 2020.

The Game Awards, which are run by former GameSpot writer Geoff Keighley, began back in 2014 and have grown in viewership every year. Before that, Keighley organized the Spike Video Game Awards on traditional linear TV and then the VGX event in 2013 before the transition to The Game Awards.

Being a show on the internet, people had a lot to say–good and bad–about The Game Awards 2019. People criticized the show for having too many ads, but Keighley says he thinks the number of ads in 2019 was similar to 2018. He also pointed out that his team does not have final say in the ads that get shown, though he hopes this may change in the future.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice took home the overall Game of the Year award at the show this year, while Disco Elysium was also a big winner–it took home all four awards it was nominated for.

In addition to awards, the event featured a lot of big news. The biggest and most unexpected announcement was the Xbox Series X, which is Microsoft’s next-generation console coming in 2020.

The bands Green Day and Chvrches performed at The Game Awards, while Grimes also played.