The Game Awards returns on December 8 from the Microsoft Theater in LA

In a nutshell: The ninth installment of The Game Awards will take place on December 8 and stream live around the world from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. December feels like a long time away but fortunately, there’s plenty of gaming-related goodness to hold our attention until then.

The annual video game awards ceremony debuted in 2014 after gaming journalist Geoff Keighley parted ways with Spike. The network had hosted a video game awards show annually from 2003 to 2013 that Keighley had been a part of, but the company planned to scale back operations for 2014 by moving the show from broadcast television to streaming only.

Keighley branched out and with the blessing of Spike, he created The Game Awards. The first show was hosted at The Axis at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas but since then, the ceremony has taken place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The one exception was in 2020 when the show was hosted virtually due to the pandemic.

The highlight each year is the coveted Game of the Year award, and there always seems to be a bit of controversy surrounding the winner or another game that was arguably more deserving. Such was the case last year with It Takes Two beat out Deathloop, Resident Evil Village and Psychonauts 2 for the top honor.

Gamescom 2022 kicks off tomorrow and runs through August 28 in Cologne, Germany. Keighley will host a two-hour showcase for Gamescom starting today at 2 p.m. Eastern, with the promise of world premieres, new game announcements and more.

PAX West is just around the corner as well, running from September 2-5 in Seattle, and the Tokyo Game Show will kick off 10 days later on September 15. BlizzCon has historically been held in November but isn’t taking place this year as Blizzard said it needs time to “reimagine” the event. The company will use the money it saves by not hosting the show to support its team and continue game development.