The Game Awards have revealed in a tweet that their latest ceremony held earlier this month on December 10 set a new viewership record with 85 million livestreams. This number signifies a 2% increase from The Game Awards 2020 when the ceremony broke the previous record.
Thank you for watching and supporting #TheGameAwards
This year's show delivered a record 85 million livestreams across more than 30 platforms, as well as record social and voting engagement. pic.twitter.com/zsvgwpSD83
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 20, 2021
Breaking the numbers down, about 3.35 million viewers streamed The Game Awards from Twitch, while YouTube logged 1.75 million viewing hours of the almost three-hour ceremony. Chinese audiences watched from a variety of platforms including Bilibili, Huya, and Tencent Video. The viewership in China reportedly hit double-digits in terms of growth from previous years. As the tweet states, fans tuned into The Game Awards from over 30 different platforms.
These numbers are especially impressive considering popular film awards such as the prestigious Oscars have consecutively lost viewers over the last seven years. 2021 was the worst year ever for the number of people who watched the Oscars at a measly 9.85 million while 2020 had 23.6 million viewers. These numbers mean The Game Awards 2021 achieved over 8.5 times more viewers than the Oscars. Although it is not exactly equal to compare livestreams and network television, the numbers are still staggering.
The Game Awards also set a record with a 27% increase in votes, with a total of 23.2 million votes. Additionally, 1.6 million tweets were posted about the gaming showcase. The Game Awards first debuted in 2014 and has found continued success and growth year after year.
The Game Awards doesn’t only pull people in with its awards but is especially enticing for the many game announcements that occur during the event. A seemingly endless amount of developers and publishers choose the ceremony to premiere trailers of their upcoming games. At this year’s The Game Awards alone, there were announcements for The Expanse: A Telltale Series, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake for PC, and even a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie trailer.
The Game Awards has essentially become a gamer’s paradise for announcements and that is proven by its ability to break its livestreams record year after year. Presumably, The Game Awards 2022 will continue the trend.
