The Game Awards will be held in front of a live audience this year

(Image credit: The Game Awards)

The Game Awards will return to a live studio audience when it returns this December, Geoff Keighley confirmed at the end of today's Summer Game Fest stream.

Like most events, last year's Game Awards was forced to take its showcase of new game trailers, awards, and (occasional) Josef Fares outbursts entirely online. But with signs that Covid-19 gathering restrictions are on the way out, many events have begun taking tentative steps towards returning to live shows.

Blizzard has been leading the charge on this, with both the Overwatch League and Call of Duty League making a return to live events this summer. Overwatch's will be limited to select teams in China, but it's already been wild to see crowds and cosplayers on site in Overwatch esports matches.

More details on The Game Awards' return to the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles will be spilled later this summer.

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.