December 12, 2024 felt like Christmas morning for gamers. The Game Awards dropped trailer after trailer for massive upcoming games, with Geoff Keighley orchestrating three and a half hours of announcements, awards, and musical performances at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The Witcher 4, Elden Ring Nightreign, and Naughty Dog’s brand new IP Intergalactic had everyone losing their minds. Now it’s November 2025, almost exactly one year later. Time to see which games delivered, which ones are still cooking, and which announcements turned out to be further away than we thought.
The Biggest Winner: Elden Ring Nightreign
FromSoftware shocked everyone at Game Awards 2024 by announcing Elden Ring Nightreign, a multiplayer-focused standalone spinoff that ditched the open world for a smaller, more focused co-op experience. The announcement trailer teased sessions where three players work together to fight through challenges before time runs out, forcing them to extract or face increasingly difficult enemies.
Here’s the best part. Nightreign actually came out. On May 30, 2025, just five months after the announcement, players were exploring Limveld and battling bosses together. The turnaround was shockingly fast by FromSoftware standards, but it made sense given the game reused tons of assets and systems from the base Elden Ring. The game launched with standard and digital deluxe editions, plus a collector’s edition for hardcore fans willing to drop 200 dollars on statues and artbooks.
Even better, FromSoftware confirmed DLC is coming in their fiscal year 2025, which ends March 31, 2026. According to Kadokawa’s earnings reports, the additional content will include more playable characters and bosses. For a game that was announced less than a year ago and has already launched with expansion plans on the way, Nightreign is the rare Game Awards announcement that actually delivered quickly.
The Witcher 4: Still Years Away
CD Projekt Red opened Game Awards 2024 with a cinematic trailer for The Witcher 4, revealing Ciri as the playable protagonist after she completed the Trial of the Grasses to become a full Witcher. The trailer showed her attempting to save a woman from being sacrificed to a monster, showcasing brutal combat and the moral complexity the series is known for. The internet exploded with theories, excitement, and debates about whether this was the right direction for the franchise.
One year later, the reality check has set in. CD Projekt Red’s CFO confirmed in mid-2025 that The Witcher 4 will not release before 2027. The game entered full-scale production in late 2024, and by August 2025, the development team had grown to 444 people working on it. That’s encouraging for long-term quality but means we’re still looking at least two years away from actually playing it.
The studio did show off a tech demo at Epic Games’ State of Unreal event in June 2025, demonstrating how Ciri and her horse Kelpie move together with realistic animations powered by Unreal Engine 5. But CDPR was careful to clarify this wasn’t actual gameplay, just a showcase of the technology. Between the switch from REDengine to Unreal Engine 5 and the studio’s commitment to avoiding another Cyberpunk 2077 launch disaster, patience is required. The Witcher 4 announcement was amazing, but it was essentially a 2027 or later game pretending to be relevant in 2024.
Intergalactic: Naughty Dog’s Mysterious New IP
Naughty Dog closed out Game Awards 2024 with Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, their first new franchise since The Last of Us in 2013. The sci-fi trailer introduced Jordan A. Mun, a bounty hunter who crash lands on Sempiria, a planet that went dark 600 years ago. Nobody who’s ever traveled there has returned, and Jordan needs to become the first person in centuries to escape its orbit. The cinematic featured retro-futuristic aesthetics with Porsche spacecraft designs and an 80s inspired soundtrack.
Nearly a year later, details remain scarce. Naughty Dog has been working on Intergalactic since 2020, giving it about five years of development time so far. Job listings spotted in October 2025 suggest the game has entered localization phases, which typically indicates a project is approaching completion. Industry watchers are predicting a late 2026 or early 2027 release window based on this timeline.
Director Neil Druckmann has promised this will be Naughty Dog’s wildest and most creative story, with the deepest gameplay in the studio’s history. Those are bold claims from a studio known for cinematic third-person action adventures. Whether Intergalactic lives up to that hype or becomes another pretty but gameplay-shallow Naughty Dog experience won’t be clear until we actually see it running. For now, it’s still firmly in the wait and see category, with a release at least a year away.
The Other Major Announcements
Game Awards 2024 wasn’t just those three games. Capcom revealed Okami sequel, finally giving fans what they’ve wanted for nearly two decades. One year later, that game remains completely silent with no updates on platforms, release windows, or even confirmation it still exists. Sometimes Game Awards announcements are aspirational rather than imminent, and Okami sequel might be years away from anything playable.
Borderlands 4 got a trailer and release window, though specific details were vague. The Outer Worlds 2 made a surprise appearance showing actual gameplay after years of radio silence. Mafia: The Old Country teased a return to the franchise’s roots in 1900s Sicily. Dying Light: The Beast revealed itself as a standalone expansion rather than a full sequel. Most of these games still don’t have firm 2025 release dates, pushing them into 2026 or beyond.
Fighting game fans got treats with announcements of a new Virtua Fighter project, Tekken 8 adding Clive from Final Fantasy XVI as DLC, and Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound bringing the brutal action series back. Turok Origins promised a return for the dinosaur-hunting franchise. Whether any of these actually materialize in playable form anytime soon remains questionable given how far out some Game Awards announcements tend to be.
What Game Awards 2024 Got Right
The awards themselves went well, with Astro Bot winning Game of the Year in an upset over expected favorites Black Myth: Wukong and Metaphor: ReFantazio. The platformer from Team Asobi also took home Best Game Direction, Best Action Adventure, and Best Family Game, dominating the night with four total wins despite Final Fantasy VII Rebirth leading nominations with seven.
The inaugural Game Changer award honored Amir Satvat for helping workers find jobs amid devastating industry layoffs that have gutted studios throughout 2023 and 2024. Celebrity appearances from Harrison Ford, Hideo Kojima, and Aaron Paul gave the show legitimacy beyond just gaming circles. Musical performances from Snoop Dogg, Twenty One Pilots, and others added entertainment value between the endless trailers.
The show was viewed by over 154 million streams, setting a new viewership record and proving Game Awards has become an essential part of gaming culture. For all the complaints about the length and Geoff Keighley’s sometimes awkward hosting, the event delivers what fans want: big announcements, deserving winners getting recognition, and a celebration of the industry’s achievements.
The Reality Check
Looking back at Game Awards 2024 one year later reveals an uncomfortable truth about game announcements. Most of them are way further out than the hype suggests. The Witcher 4 won’t arrive for at least two more years. Intergalactic is probably a year away minimum. Okami sequel might not exist in any playable form yet. Publishers love using Game Awards to build hype for games that are still deep in development because it’s free marketing to a massive captive audience.
The exception proves the rule. Elden Ring Nightreign actually came out quickly because FromSoftware was smart enough to only announce a game that was nearly finished and reused most of its assets. They didn’t promise revolutionary new technology or years of additional development. They showed a focused multiplayer experience built on existing foundations and delivered it five months later. More studios should follow that approach rather than announcing games three years before they’re playable.
Looking Ahead to Game Awards 2025
Game Awards 2025 is scheduled for December 11, just a few weeks away from when this article is being written in November. Geoff Keighley has already started teasing big announcements and world premieres. Based on the pattern, expect trailers for games that won’t come out until 2027 or 2028, mixed with a few surprises that might actually be close to release.
Potential candidates for reveals include updates on games announced in previous years that have gone silent, new IPs from major studios, and the inevitable parade of indie games trying to get noticed. Maybe we’ll finally see Death Stranding 2, which Hideo Kojima has been teasing forever. Perhaps Nintendo will show something from their next console lineup. Or maybe CD Projekt Red will give us another Witcher 4 trailer even though the game is still years away.
FAQs
When did Game Awards 2024 take place?
The Game Awards 2024 was held on December 12, 2024 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The show lasted approximately three and a half hours and featured 30 award categories plus numerous game announcements.
Which game won Game of the Year at Game Awards 2024?
Astro Bot from Team Asobi won Game of the Year in an upset victory over favorites Black Myth: Wukong and Metaphor: ReFantazio. The platformer also won Best Game Direction, Best Action Adventure, and Best Family Game.
Has The Witcher 4 released yet?
No, The Witcher 4 entered full-scale production in late 2024 and won’t release before 2027 according to CD Projekt Red’s CFO. The game is being built on Unreal Engine 5 with over 444 developers working on it as of August 2025.
Did Elden Ring Nightreign come out?
Yes, Elden Ring Nightreign launched on May 30, 2025, just five months after its Game Awards 2024 announcement. The multiplayer-focused spinoff reused many assets from the base game, allowing for the quick turnaround. DLC is planned for release before March 2026.
When will Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet release?
Naughty Dog has not announced a release date, but job listings in October 2025 suggested the game entered localization phases. Industry analysts predict a late 2026 or early 2027 release window based on typical development timelines.
What else was announced at Game Awards 2024?
Major announcements included Okami sequel, Borderlands 4, The Outer Worlds 2, Mafia: The Old Country, Dying Light: The Beast, Turok Origins, a new Virtua Fighter project, and Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound among others.
How many people watched Game Awards 2024?
The show set a new viewership record with over 154 million livestreams globally, making it the most-watched Game Awards ever and cementing its status as a major event in gaming culture.
When is Game Awards 2025?
The Game Awards 2025 is scheduled for December 11, 2025. Tickets are on sale and Geoff Keighley has begun teasing major announcements and world premieres for the show.
Conclusion
Looking back at Game Awards 2024 one year later is a mixed bag of fulfilled promises and reality checks. Elden Ring Nightreign proves that studios can announce and deliver games quickly when they’re honest about timelines and realistic about scope. The Witcher 4 and Intergalactic remind us that most Game Awards trailers are selling dreams that won’t materialize for years. And all those other announcements that got people excited? Most are still nowhere close to release. The lesson here isn’t that Game Awards announcements are meaningless. They generate genuine excitement and give fans something to look forward to. But maybe we should all take a breath before declaring the next big thing when it’s just a cinematic trailer for a game three years away from completion. As we head into Game Awards 2025 in a few weeks, remember that what gets announced probably won’t be playable until 2027 or beyond. Enjoy the trailers, celebrate the winners, appreciate the spectacle, but maybe hold off on the hype until you’re actually holding a controller playing the finished product. FromSoftware showed it can be done right with Nightreign. Now if only everyone else would follow their example instead of announcing games that exist primarily as marketing materials rather than playable experiences.