Rumors are swirling ahead of Thursday’s 2024 Game Awards – but it’s not about who will take home the show’s awards. Instead, leading up to the 10th anniversary of the Geoff Keighley-hosted event, which begins at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, most of the excitement revolves around what big announcements and trailers video game developers and publishers will choose from the to dismiss show.

Will Take-Two Interactive use this moment to finally announce the release date for Grant Theft Auto 6? Will Skydance Interactive and Disney reveal details about their closely guarded Star Wars game? Will Xbox surprise players and quickly reveal the first downloadable content (DLC) for MachineGames’ new hit Indiana Jones and the Great Circle?

“I always say: People are happy to see something because they know it exists – but what about all the things you don’t know exist? “It’s fun,” says Keighley diversity. “We always see the fake lists online that say, ‘All these things are being announced.’ And that’s just because people know that these things exist. And I think, but what if there’s a whole bunch of other things out there?”

Keighley and The Game Awards executive producer Kimmie Kim, director Richard Preuss and production designer LeRoy Bennett remain tight-lipped on the matter, but have plenty to say about the work that went into preparing for the 10th annual Game Awards.

“The interesting thing about our show is that all the clips are online,” Keighley said, noting that the show has always been free to watch (and re-watch) via YouTube and the Game Awards’ social media channels. “You can see it. It used to be with anniversary shows that you had to play all these clips and all the things that happen because you couldn’t find them anywhere else. For us, our shows have been very accessible to everyone for a decade. So we take our hats off to some great people and moments that have been part of our show’s history – but we’ll also be focusing heavily on the future. And with our show, it’s half awards show and half anticipation of what’s next. This audience really wants to look to the future, so not only will we focus on what’s happening in gaming in 2025, but I think you’ll also see some things at the show that are even further into the future lay.”

It’s taken some time, but over the last decade, the Game Awards have gained the trust of the gaming industry to celebrate these big moments, and publishers plan a year to release their titles and announcements during the show.

“I come from award shows like the Oscars or the VMAs, where the day we’re done and the show goes out, we’re planning for next year,” Kim says. “And there’s a similar atmosphere here, where we work closely with the vast majority of game companies and are always thinking ahead about how they want to work together in the next few years, which we didn’t see in the first few years.”

During this ten year period, the show’s production quality has also evolved to keep pace with the industry it presents. For the 2024 show, the anniversary surprises production team is working with more LED screens than ever before.

“Over the years of creating the show, every year I try to push the boundaries of technology and try different things,” says Bennett. “There is a certain format that we have to stick to just because of the nature of the awards, the games and the way you show the video games on the screens and so on. But I’m constantly trying to change the look of the show and the production within the format. This year there are many more LED screens and modules than ever before. It’s a very architectural LED-based set.”

While game developers, executives and fans will be celebrating on Thursday, it’s important to note that the SAG-AFTRA strike against major game publishers continues, and there currently doesn’t seem to be an end in sight to the contract negotiations that largely take place around the issue generative AI in video games. Keighley and the Game Awards team are monitoring the situation and have taken this into account when booking talent for the show.

“We’re learning about it as it evolves and we’ve seen some commentary about what is a hit game, what isn’t a hit game and whether people can show up or not?” Keighley says. “So we want to be respectful of the cast and their decisions and how they want to participate in the evolving situation. We are looking at the matter day by day, trying to be very respectful and hoping for a positive solution.”

Over the past decade, Kim says the show’s prestige level has risen while also managing to maintain its indie status – it airs on YouTube rather than on any particular network or streamer behind a paywall – and a Art General created a tribute to the year in video games.

“There are definitely people invested in it,” Kim said. “There is a friendship and partnership where a team does this together, which I find really interesting and in some ways unique compared to all the other awards shows. So it became one of those real moments of community coming together in planning things in advance. This is very helpful for the production of the show, as well as being a morale booster and a worthwhile cause that we were able to create.”

Preuss agrees with the “all for one and one for all” mentality he’s observed in the gaming industry at the Game Awards – not something that’s typical of a competition-based event where people compete for the Game Awards Top prices.

“The beauty of this show is that every year there are these surprises and special announcements. And it’s about much more than just the awards,” says Preuss. “It’s an absolute tribute to the industry in a way that I don’t think other awards are.” They celebrate this year’s successes, of course, which is the case with the Game Awards – but the show just has a bigger story and “Always look to the future.”

The industry may be excited about the Game Awards, but they don’t like the long run. While Preuss isn’t alone in this particular problem, which is common at the Oscars, Emmys and other top events, he says they work to improve it every year.

“Similar to many other awards ceremonies, it’s about going full throttle and hitting the brakes to keep the show going as quickly as possible so that there are no awkward pauses,” says Preuss. “And here our crew is so great when it comes to starting the next band or starting the Muppets – who have been with us for many years and are back again. We keep our show very tight, but also do our best to let things breathe appropriately.”