The gaming industry takes over the Peacock Theater on December 10, with live performances, first-look trailers, and direct access to the developers building the games we love. Here is why a ticket is worth the trip to Los Angeles.
Tickets for The Game Awards 2026 are officially on sale. Public tickets went on sale October 29 at 10 a.m. via AXS, and only a limited number were released to the public. You need to grab yours quickly through the official Game Awards tickets page before they sell out!
The show is Thursday, December 10 at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, with the opening act at 4:30 p.m. PST. If you want the details on the event, and my past event experience, before you decide to make the trip, keep reading.
The In-Person Experience
While you can easily watch the show live on YouTube, the in-person experience is on a completely different level.
I’ve been attending The Game Awards in person since it was on Spike TV, and the in-person experience gets better every single year. When you sit inside the theater, you get live performances and the opportunity to see how the show is produced, all while surrounded by the developers who actually build this industry. You get to experience the one night a year when gaming is celebrated at a massive scale. If you’re lucky, you might even meet the creators behind the games we all love.
There is a reason why major studios choose Geoff Keighley’s stage to drop their World Premiere trailers instead of hosting their own showcases. It comes down to the shared hype of having one massive live audience, with press and streamers all watching at the exact same time, creating an energy that rivals E3 Expo Pressers.
Live Music And An Epic Orchestra
While the official details have yet to be announced, we know the production value is always top tier. We can always expect a musical performance and a live orchestra highlighting the year’s best scores from the games featured during the night.
Past musical performances have included the following artists:
Evanescence performed “Afterlife” for the Devil May Cry animated series.
Twenty One Pilots, d4vd, and Royal & the Serpent teamed up featuring “The Line,” “Remember Me,” and “Wasteland” to celebrate the hit Netflix series Arcane.
Sting performed “What Could Have Been,” also representing Arcane.
Old Gods of Asgard brought down the house with “Herald of Darkness” for Alan Wake 2.
Eddie Vedder performed “Future Days” for The Last of Us Part II.
Hozier and composer Bear McCreary performed “Blood Upon the Snow” for God of War Ragnarök.
You’re basically getting a mini-concert! Hearing and seeing that music performed live justifies the ticket price alone.
The Game of the Year Prediction
The biggest question we all have right now is what title will take home Game of the Year. I think it will be GTA VI. Grand Theft Auto VI launches November 19, just shy of The Game Awards qualification cutoff on November 20 at 9 p.m. PST, so it is technically eligible, but that does not guarantee a nomination. While GTA VI is cutting it real close with the deadline to be a nominee, I really feel like it’s going to steal the show and somehow win Game of the Year. I can’t think of any other game that would top it this year.
Its massive scale, game-defining presence, and cultural weight are undeniable, and a Rockstar release completely changes the conversation across the entire industry. However, a sleeper hit or another major release could easily surprise us once the nominees are actually announced, which is why I want to hear your early picks in the comments.
Are you planning to attend The Game Awards in person this year, or will you be watching the livestream from home? Drop a comment below.