The Game Awards Returns in December, 2 Million-Plus Expected to Watch

The second-ever Game Awards will be held on December 3, 2015, show creator and organizer Geoff Keighley has announced. The event will be streamed live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Keighley tells The New York Times that he's expecting about 4,000 people to attend in person, up from 3,500 for last year's inaugural event. The event will be streamed live on Twitch and through Xbox and PlayStation consoles, among other places. Keighley said he believes viewership this year will exceed the 2 million people who tuned in for last year's event.

Another change this year is that Keighley has brought on a major sponsor in Verizon. Other sponsors include various game companies, which will show ads for their titles during the event.

Keighley also reveals in the New York Times story that he spent $1 million of his own money to produce the first-ever Game Awards last year, which was held in Las Vegas. Even with the assistance of game publishers, Keighley said he ended up losing money on the event.

The Game Awards 2015 airs Thursday, December 3, starting at 9 PM EDT.

Previously, Keighley worked with Spike TV to host the annual awards show on cable TV. However, the event was scaled back in its final installment with Spike, the online-only 2013 VGX, which was hosted by Joel McHale. According to The New York Times, Spike asked Keighley to produce the show again in 2014, but he declined, and ultimately created The Game Awards on his own.

A list of nominees for this year's show will be announced in "mid-November," according to the event's website. These will be voted on by a group of 35 journalists. The overall Game of the Year award winner last year was BioWare's Dragon Age: Inquisition.

The Game Awards advisory board, which is not involved with award nomination and voting, includes the people and organizations shown in the image below.

Are you going to watch The Game Awards 2015? Let us know in the comments below.