TL;DR: The Game Awards 2026 airs on Thursday, December 10 at 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT (12:30 AM GMT on Friday, December 11), live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. It is free to watch on YouTube, Twitch and the show's other official channels, with no ticket or subscription needed. Nominees are due in mid-November, and fan voting closes December 9.
The Game Awards 2026 starts at 7:30 PM Eastern on December 10, and you can watch the whole thing free. Geoff Keighley's show streams on YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, X and the rest of its official channels, and the official FAQ says it will be "available to stream for free across all major streaming services." Outside the Americas the show runs overnight or on Friday morning: 12:30 AM in the UK, 2:30 AM in Kyiv, 11:30 AM in Sydney.
Data as of November 11, 2026. The date, venue, start time, cutoff and voting deadline come from thegameawards.com. The 2026 nominee list, the full platform list and the pre-show schedule have not been published yet, so they are marked "not confirmed" below. We will update this page when they are announced.
When is The Game Awards 2026?
The Game Awards 2026 takes place on Thursday, December 10, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, per the official announcement. It is the 13th edition of the show Keighley founded in 2014, and it runs one day earlier in the calendar than last year's ceremony on December 11, 2025.
The official site has an "add to calendar" link on its homepage. It is worth using, because the start time is easy to get wrong if you are in Europe or Asia, where the show falls on Friday.
What time does The Game Awards 2026 start?
The official start is 4:30 PM PT / 7:30 PM ET, which is 00:30 UTC on December 11. Here is that time converted for the main regions:
| Region | Time zone | Start time |
|---|---|---|
| US West Coast | PT | Thu, Dec 10, 4:30 PM |
| US Mountain | MT | Thu, Dec 10, 5:30 PM |
| US Central / Mexico City | CT | Thu, Dec 10, 6:30 PM |
| US East Coast | ET | Thu, Dec 10, 7:30 PM |
| Brazil (SÃŖo Paulo) | BRT | Thu, Dec 10, 9:30 PM |
| UK / Ireland | GMT | Fri, Dec 11, 12:30 AM |
| Central Europe (Berlin, Paris, Madrid) | CET | Fri, Dec 11, 1:30 AM |
| Ukraine / Eastern Europe | EET | Fri, Dec 11, 2:30 AM |
| UAE | GST | Fri, Dec 11, 4:30 AM |
| India | IST | Fri, Dec 11, 6:00 AM |
| Singapore / Philippines | SGT | Fri, Dec 11, 8:30 AM |
| Japan / South Korea | JST / KST | Fri, Dec 11, 9:30 AM |
| Australia (Sydney, Melbourne) | AEDT | Fri, Dec 11, 11:30 AM |
| New Zealand | NZDT | Fri, Dec 11, 1:30 PM |
One detail matters if you only care about the trophies and the trailers. The FAQ describes 4:30 PM PT as the start of the "opening act," not of the main broadcast. Last year that slot was the pre-show, hosted by Sydnee Goodman, and the main show followed at about 5:00 PM PT, according to TheWrap's 2025 coverage. The 2026 pre-show schedule is not confirmed yet. Tune in at 4:30 PM PT anyway: smaller awards and some reveals happen in the opening act.
No official runtime is published. Recent shows ran past three hours, so expect it to finish around 11:00 PM ET, or about 3:30 to 4:00 AM in the UK.
Where to watch The Game Awards 2026 for free
You do not need a TV package, a ticket or a paid account. The show streams live on its official channels, and the full broadcast stays on YouTube afterward if the time zone is against you.
| Platform | Where | Status for 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | youtube.com/thegameawards | Official channel; 2025 show streamed here in 4K60 and is still up as a replay |
| Twitch | twitch.tv/thegameawards | Official channel |
| TikTok | @thegameawards | Official account |
| X (Twitter) | @thegameawards | Official account |
| Facebook / Instagram | The Game Awards | Official accounts |
| Steam | Steam broadcast page | Carried the 2025 show; 2026 not confirmed |
| Prime Video | Prime Video live | Carried the 2025 show; 2026 not confirmed |
| Kick, IGN, GameSpot | Partner streams | Carried the 2025 show; 2026 not confirmed |
| Bilibili (China) | Fan voting in China | Voting confirmed; stream not confirmed |
The 2025 platform list comes from PC Gamer's 2025 viewing guide. The organizers have not published a channel-by-channel list for 2026 yet. Their only promise so far is "all major streaming services," so the YouTube and Twitch links above are the safe bets.
Watching from the UK or Australia? The streams are the same, and there are no regional broadcasts to hunt for. The issue is only the clock: the show starts at 12:30 AM Friday in London and 11:30 AM Friday in Sydney. Want to watch with a creator? The FAQ says the show "welcome[s] and encourage[s] co-streaming," and streamers can sign up as official co-streamers through the link in the FAQ. That is why half your Twitch follows will be live with it.
When are The Game Awards 2026 nominees announced?
The official homepage says nominees are "coming mid-November," without an exact date. Last year's list went out on November 17, 2025, so the week of November 16 is the best guess. Our Game Awards 2026 nominee predictions page has our Game of the Year picks for every major category, and it will be rewritten with the real list the day it drops.
Two dates decide which games can be nominated. A game must be on sale by Friday, November 20, 2026, at 9:00 PM PT (midnight ET). For the fan-voted Players' Voice award, the cutoff is November 30. GTA 6 launches November 19, a day before the main cutoff, so it is eligible. Our GTA 6 pre-load and unlock times guide covers when it actually unlocks in your region.
How to vote in The Game Awards 2026
Fan voting opens on thegameawards.com once nominees are announced. In China it runs through Bilibili instead. Voting closes on Wednesday, December 9, at 6:00 PM PT, which is 9:00 PM ET or 2:00 AM GMT on December 10. You can vote in every category, not just Game of the Year.
Keep your expectations about your vote realistic. Winners are decided by a blend of 90% jury vote and 10% fan vote. The jury is made up of more than 100 media and creator outlets, per the official voting jury page. The fan vote decides Players' Voice outright, and in a close category it can still swing the result.
Can you get tickets to The Game Awards 2026?
Yes, but only a limited number. Public tickets went on sale on October 29 through AXS, and the Peacock Theater event page links to the same sale. The organizers have not published a price, and they have not said how many seats are left. Watching costs nothing, so a ticket is only worth chasing if you want to be in the room in Los Angeles.
Who hosts The Game Awards 2026?
Geoff Keighley, as every year since 2014. He founded the show, hosts it and produces it. According to the FAQ, he does not vote for the winners. The 2026 pre-show host has not been announced. Last year's show, where Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won Game of the Year, drew 171 million livestreams according to the organizers. That is why publishers keep saving their biggest reveals for this night.
What to expect on the night
The official FAQ promises "awards, world premieres, musical performances and more." No specific 2026 premieres are confirmed on thegameawards.com yet, and we are not listing leaks or rumors here. The Game of the Year field is unusually open: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time leads Metacritic's 2026 chart, and GTA 6 arrives three weeks before the show.
Surprise launches during the broadcast are common, so it makes sense to plan for a late night of playing too. If your controller has been sitting in a drawer since the last big release, run it through our online gamepad tester before the show. It takes a minute and catches stick drift before a new game does.