Even though the Game Awards might only be 5 years old, they are making their societal mark by having approximately 45.2 million viewers throughout its entire runtime last week. That number is up 73% from the previous year, which only had 26.2 million total viewers. It should be pointed out that there were only 7.5 million viewers at its peak, but these numbers are still impressive for such a young awards show.
To put them more into perspective, the other two most watched awards shows this year, the Academy Awards and the Grammys, only had 29.6 million and 19.8 million viewers respectively. That means the Game Awards had almost double their viewership combined.
The awards show’s creator, Geoff Keighley, had this to say about the immense growth of his baby:
“We are grateful and humbled by the continued growth of The Game Awards over the past six years. These record-setting results show that gaming culture continues to reach new audiences around the globe, and these numbers re-affirm our distribution approach of streaming the show live and free across more than 50 digital video platforms.”
He did bring up a good point that people should keep in mind about these numbers though. The Game Awards are free for everybody to watch. Viewers don’t need a cable provider. They only need access to the internet. It is much easier for anybody who is even a little bit interested to tune in an see what’s happening during the Game Awards as opposed to other awards shows. These other shows should keep this in mind for next year and test out free streaming options to increase their viewership.
Regardless, it’s safe to say that the Game Awards have been quite the success and gaming is on its way into being one of the biggest parts of everyday culture. It will be interesting to see where things go for this show in the future.
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