The Game Awards will return for its ninth annual outing toward the end of this year on December 8, announced producer Geoff Keighley today. As is the case with every Game Awards held since 2015 — with the exception of the 2020 show’s virtual event — the awards show will be held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, while also being broadcast live on various streaming services.
Keighley also revealed that this year’s showcase would feature at least one new category: Best Adaptation. According to Keighley, this category will “recognize outstanding work adapting video game IP to other entertainment forms,” including television shows, movies, books, and anything else “that authentically [adapts] the source material.”
In the past few years, quite a few film and television adaptations of successful video games have been announced and/or released. Paramount Pictures has thus far put out two movies based on Sonic the Hedgehog, and also has plans for a spin-off miniseries focused on Knuckles alongside a third movie. Earlier this year, the long-awaited film adaptation of Uncharted finally hit theaters after roughly a decade in production.
As for in-development projects, HBO is currently developing a television series based on The Last of Us starring The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal and Game of Thrones’ Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, respectively. In February, Bungie hired a former animation director for League of Legends to “extend the [Destiny] IP” into various other mediums, including film and television.
Last year’s Game Awards saw Hazelight Studios’ It Takes Two, which is also receiving film and TV adaptations, take home the Game of the Year award. The showcase also featured a healthy amount of hard-hitting announcements, including Alan Wake II and Star Wars Eclipse.
