The Game Awards 2026 takes place on Thursday, December 10, 2026, live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, and the opening act starts at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT, which is 00:30 UTC on Friday, December 11. The show streams free on all major platforms. The nominees are not out yet: the official site says they are “coming mid-November” and gives no exact date or hour, so this page lists only what The Game Awards has confirmed and marks everything else as unannounced.
Table of Contents
The Game Awards 2026: quick answer
- Date: Thursday, December 10, 2026.
- Start time: opening act at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT (00:30 UTC, December 11).
- Where: Peacock Theater, Los Angeles.
- How to watch: free live stream across all major streaming services.
- Nominees: “coming mid-November” per thegameawards.com; no exact date or time has been given.
- Fan voting: open on thegameawards.com once nominees are live; closes Wednesday, December 9 at 6 p.m. PT.
| What | Date and time | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility cutoff (games on sale) | Friday, November 20, 2026, 9 p.m. PT (05:00 UTC, November 21) | Confirmed in the official FAQ |
| Players’ Voice cutoff (games must ship) | November 30, 2026 | Confirmed in the official FAQ |
| 2026 nominees revealed | “Mid-November” | No exact date or time announced |
| Fan voting closes | Wednesday, December 9, 6 p.m. PT (02:00 UTC, December 10) | Confirmed in the official FAQ |
| Live show | Thursday, December 10, opening act 7:30 p.m. ET | Confirmed |
The show streams free on all major services. AI-generated illustration.
What time does The Game Awards start in your time zone?
The official FAQ gives the start as 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT. The other rows below are our own conversions of that time, so double-check them against your local clock if you are close to a daylight-saving change.
| Region | Opening act starts |
|---|---|
| Eastern (New York) | Thursday, December 10, 7:30 p.m. EST |
| Central (Chicago) | Thursday, December 10, 6:30 p.m. CST |
| Pacific (Los Angeles) | Thursday, December 10, 4:30 p.m. PST |
| Brazil (Sao Paulo) | Thursday, December 10, 9:30 p.m. |
| UK (London) | Friday, December 11, 12:30 a.m. GMT |
| Central Europe (Berlin) | Friday, December 11, 1:30 a.m. CET |
| UAE (Dubai) | Friday, December 11, 4:30 a.m. |
| India | Friday, December 11, 6:00 a.m. IST |
| Japan (Tokyo) | Friday, December 11, 9:30 a.m. JST |
| Australia (Sydney) | Friday, December 11, 11:30 a.m. AEDT |
The official wording is “opening act”, so expect the broadcast to run well past that time; the site does not give a running time.
How to watch The Game Awards 2026
According to the official FAQ, the show is “available to stream for free across all major streaming services” on December 10, and the homepage describes it as “streams live on all platforms”. The homepage links the official YouTube and Twitch channels, and the site also lists TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Discord for updates.
The 2026 platform list has not been published on the pages we checked. For reference, the official 2025 results release named YouTube, Twitch, Steam, TikTok Live, X, Kick, Facebook and Instagram Live, plus JioHotstar in India and several networks in China. Treat that as last year’s lineup, not a confirmed 2026 list. The Game Awards also welcomes co-streaming and has an official co-streamer sign-up linked from its FAQ.
In person, a limited number of public tickets were announced for sale on October 29 through AXS, according to the August 10 announcement. The FAQ now points to the Peacock Theater box office; whether any remain is not stated.
When are The Game Awards 2026 nominees announced?
The official homepage shows “2026 Nominees: Coming mid-November” and nothing more specific. As of this check the nominee list was not on the site, and no date, time or format for the announcement had been posted. We will not guess one. When it goes live, it will be on thegameawards.com.
The nominations are not a public vote. Per the FAQ:
- Most categories are chosen by a jury of over 100 global media and influencer outlets. Each submits a confidential, unranked ballot with its top five choices per category.
- The five games that appear on the most ballots become the nominees. If there is a tie, six or more are announced in that category.
- Specialized juries handle other categories, including esports, accessibility and best adaptation.
- Producer Geoff Keighley is not on the jury and does not vote on nominees or winners.
- Game companies, including the advisory board, learn the nominees and winners at the same time as the public.
Which games are eligible for The Game Awards 2026?
A game must be commercially available on or before Friday, November 20, 2026, at 9 p.m. PT. The Players’ Voice category is the exception: games there must ship by November 30. There is no entry form or fee, and all games are automatically eligible.
Older games can be considered too. The FAQ says games from previous years qualify if the jury feels new content or service updates merit it, and that DLC, expansions, remakes and remasters are eligible. Early access games count as well if they are publicly available by the deadline.
The cutoff falls one day after the November 19 launch we cover in GTA 6 release time, pre-load and file size, so a game launching that week meets the date requirement. Meeting it is not a nomination, and we are not predicting any nominee or winner.
Nominees come from jury ballots; winners are 90% jury, 10% fan vote. AI-generated illustration.
How are winners chosen, and can you vote?
Winners come from a blended vote: 90% the voting jury and 10% public fan voting, according to the FAQ. Fans vote on thegameawards.com, and in China on Bilibili. Fan voting closes on Wednesday, December 9 at 6 p.m. PT, which is the day before the show. The official site explains the split by saying a fully public vote would disadvantage single-platform games and could be socially engineered. Winners are not disclosed before the live show.
What has not been announced yet
- The nominees, and the exact date and time of the nominee reveal.
- Any host, presenters, performers or world premieres: the FAQ only says to expect “awards, world premieres, musical performances and more”.
- The full list of 2026 streaming platforms.
- The show’s running time.
How big is The Game Awards? Last year’s numbers
The 2025 show took place on December 11, 2025. In a December 18, 2025 release, The Game Awards reported an estimated 171 million global livestreams of the full broadcast, up 11% from 154 million in 2024, and described it as the 12th year in a row that viewership increased. The release says Prime Video viewership was not included in the 2025 total. Those are the organizers’ own figures.
While you wait, our coverage of other awards shows may help: the Golden Joystick Awards 2026 winners and nominees, the Golden Joystick how-to-watch guide and the snubs and surprises from the 2024 Game Awards.
FAQ
When is The Game Awards 2026?
Thursday, December 10, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with the opening act at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT.
Is The Game Awards free to watch?
Yes. The official FAQ says it streams for free across all major streaming services.
When do The Game Awards 2026 nominees come out?
The official site says “mid-November”. It has not given an exact date or time yet.
What is the cutoff date for The Game Awards 2026?
Games must be available by Friday, November 20, 2026, at 9 p.m. PT. Players’ Voice games must ship by November 30.
Can fans vote for The Game Awards?
Yes, fan votes count for 10% of the winner vote and close Wednesday, December 9 at 6 p.m. PT. The other 90% is the jury.
Sources: The Game Awards homepage, The Game Awards FAQ and rules, TGA Returns December 10, 2026 (August 10, 2026) and The Game Awards 2025 Delivers 171 Million Livestreams. Time-zone conversions are ours.
Checked November 13, 2026, 06:11 UTC against thegameawards.com.
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Featured image: AI-generated illustration
