LOS ANGELES — The Game Awards will next year bring its format of honoring the past, present and future of video games to the Hollywood Bowl. On June 25 in a concert backed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Geoff Keighley-hosted The Game Awards will present a night of video game music that promises to span the past 10 years in gaming while also providing some looks ahead.
"We're just starting to plan out the show, but we want to look back at the past 10 years of [The Game Awards] and highlight many game of the year winners, but also look forward and preview some new music as well," said Keighley, founder of The Game Awards. The concert was announced at the ninth edition of The Game Awards, held Thursday night at the Microsoft Theater.
Music has always been a central tenet of the award show, which in the past has hosted pop stars such as Green Day and Grimes, but also typically has its own orchestra playing samples of music from nominated games. On Thursday, Bear McCreary's work on "God of War Ragnarök" — an imposing orchestral work with hints of mysticism — won in the score and music category.
The program for the Hollywood Bowl show, officially dubbed The Game Awards 10-Year Celebration, has yet to be announced, but Keighley said it continues his quest to bring video games into more mainstream spaces.
"I created The Game Awards to widen and deepen the appreciation of gaming as an art form, and this concert at the Bowl is a natural extension of that mission," Keighley said. "If there can be movie nights at the Bowl, there should be game nights too. We'll start with this summer show in 2023, but in future years I'm hopeful we will see multiple nights of gaming music."
The Hollywood Bowl show won't be the first time the Los Angeles Philharmonic has toyed with video game music. The Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 2004 performed selections from the "Final Fantasy" games at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and over the years has hosted "Video Games Live" at the Hollywood Bowl.
Keighley said the Hollywood Bowl concert will include games large and small.
"What's great about our format is that we can highlight some of the biggest franchises, but also include smaller independent games too," Keighley said. "Those indie games by themselves might not fill the Bowl, but when they are put into a curated program with other titles, we can create a really special evening. It's very similar to The Game Awards in that way — this will be a cross-industry concert with a lot of big games represented."
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