Geoff Keighley’s putting on a show. I don’t mean E3 killing Summer Game Fest but an actual music concert celebrating 10 years of The Game Awards. The announcement doesn’t include a Coachella-style lineup of acts like a typical concert announcement would; rather, it’s a listing of game music you’ll hear during the performance.
The Game Awards anniversary concert will have music from Hades, Elden Ring, and more
The Game Awards anniversary concert will have music from Hades, Elden Ring, and more
There are 12 games that’ll be featured during the concert, including past game of the year winners like The Last of Us and a smattering of music from the most popular or most anticipated games to come, like Final Fantasy XVI and Starfield. You can also expect to hear the musical stylings of Hades, Elden Ring, and God of War, of course, but the concert also features music from gaming-adjacent media like the League of Legends show Arcane. But the set list isn’t all gas no breaks, unfortunately, featuring selections from the TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) wizard game. Here’s the full list for your perusal.
If you’re looking at that set list and feel something’s missing, you’d be right. At a time when the Mario movie is grossing half a billion dollars with Jack Black possibly getting an Oscar nomination for the original song “Peaches” and with Tears of the Kingdom barely a month away, that there’s no Nintendo music on the docket seems like a glaring omission. According to an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Keighley was in talks with Nintendo, but “it just didn’t work out.”
In the interview, Keighley also realized that his decision to include music from Hogwarts Legacy will rankle some, due to the game’s connection to and enrichment of its transphobic creator, J.K. Rowling. But he said Hogwarts Legacy was too big to ignore, citing the game’s financial success and the fact that the Hollywood Bowl will be hosting a Harry Potter performance the day before the concert.
There’s a good chance that, like with The Game Awards, there will be musical guests to accompany the orchestra similar to Bear McCreary’s God of War Ragnarök performance last year. But more than that, I’m dying to know if last year’s breakout star Pedro Eustache, aka Flute Guy, will return. I’ve asked Keighley and eagerly await his answer.
The Game Award’s 10-year concert is on June 25th, and you can get your tickets here.