The Game Awards isn’t the Oscars. It’s not the Tonys. If we’re being generous, it shares the same pop cultural status as the modern MTV Music Video Awards. But even if the show is a bit embarrassing and largely serves as an advertisement for future games, it matters.
It matters to big game publishers and tiny developers alike. All nominees stand to not only get a healthy dose of public praise, but a burst of press and a spike in sales. Especially if they win.
With more games released in 2025 than in any other year, awareness is invaluable. The Game Awards claimed a 2024 audience of 154 million streams, which would mean more people watched it than the Super Bowl. Even if the audience is actually half that number, then The Game Awards remains one of the most widely seen annual broadcasts in the world.
So this week on Post Games, we take The Game Awards seriously. My guest is the only year-round Game Awards beat reporter and analyst, Polyon's Oli Welsh.
Act 1: The history of The Game Awards
Act 2: How The Game Awards actually work
Patreon bonus: What The Game Awards got right… and very wrong
Act 3: The news of the week
Act 1: The history of The Game Awards
How Geoff Keighley Became Gaming’s Master of Ceremonies (The Ringer)
Cybermania ’94 - The Ultimate Gamer Awards (Vincent Dawn)
The Dark History Behind The Game Awards (Burback)
Rewatching the 2004 Spike TV Video Game Awards, a true time capsule of gaming (Polygon)
Act 2: How The Game Awards actually work
The 40 best video games of 2024 (Polygon)
GotY Watch (Polygon)
Golden Joysticks voting stats signal an incoming Clair Obscur sweep at The Game Awards (Polygon)
Game of the Year: Which of the 2025 Game Awards nominees will win? (Polygon)
Mario Kart World was never gonna get Game of the Year love even if it was a masterpiece (Polygon)
Patreon bonus: What The Game Awards got right… and very wrong
‘Walking Dead’ wins game of the year at Spike VGAs (AP)
Madden 2004 review (IGN)
The Orange Box review (PC Gamer)
Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story (Steam)
Act 3: News of the week
A PSA: Don't play games out of obligation
This week in video game links
How Denshattack! is making the morning commute radical (Shacknews)
2025 Set the Stage for an Action Game Renaissance (Inverse)
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a Delightful Throwback Brawler | Quick Looks (Giant Bomb)
Somehow, The Musical Ghost Story Home Repair Genre Works (Aftermath)
The Making of Disco Elysium - Part One: Foundations (NoClip)
Anna C. Webster Declares This Year The Era Of The Blue Prince Sicko | Winter Spectacular 2025 (Startmenu)
Free game of the week: GREAT BI-WINTERLY TESTVILLE FLEEMARKET
From the itch.io summary: "Oh noo! You arrived a day early at Testvilles famous fleemarket oh no. Well, since they are already setting up things why dont you take a stroll anyways.
In this ""game"" you can:
walk around
talk to characters
press continue without reading a single textbox
win
(Via Warp Door)
What else I’m enjoying
MF DOOM x Cookin Soul - DOOM XMAS (full tape) (Cookin Soul)
A Tribe Called Xmas (full tape) (Cookin Soul)
The Beguiling, Misunderstood Theremin (NYTimes)
Zlin City: Arch Moderna - Official Announcement Trailer (GameTrailers)