Votes held on the official website and shared on social media were given an additional 10% weighting in the fan vote calculation. Winners are determined between the jury (90%) and public votes (10%) the latter was held via the official website and on social media platforms and technologies such as Amazon Alexa, Bilibili, Discord, Facebook Messenger, Google Assistant, and Twitter. The nominees were compiled by a jury panel with members from 69 media outlets globally. Any game released on or before Novemwas eligible for consideration. The nominees for The Game Awards 2018 were announced on Novemthe announcement received more traffic than anticipated, crashing the website for several hours.
![youtube octopath traveler ost youtube octopath traveler ost](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0Dk_tgGFQGM/hqdefault.jpg)
![youtube octopath traveler ost youtube octopath traveler ost](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EbSgRRiPtHY/maxresdefault.jpg)
Steven Spohn was one of three honorees named a Global Gaming Citizen. It received a generally positive reception from media publications, with praise directed at the opening speech and new game announcements but some criticism for the focus on reveals over the awards. The 2018 was viewed by over 26.2 million streams, the most in its history to date, with four million concurrent viewers at its peak. In association with the event, sales were held on most digital storefronts for nominees and former winners. Several new games were revealed during the show, including Far Cry New Dawn, Hades, and The Outer Worlds. At the show, Red Dead Redemption 2 tied for the highest-awarded game in the show's history with four wins, and God of War was awarded Game of the Year. God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 received eight nominations each. The show opened with a group speech by Microsoft's Phil Spencer, Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aimé, and Sony's Shawn Layden, representing the unity of the industry. The show featured musical performances from Harry Gregson-Williams, Daniel Lanois, Lena Raine, and Hans Zimmer, and presentations from celebrity guests including Jonah Hill, the Russo brothers, Brendon Urie, and Christoph Waltz. The event was live streamed across more than 40 digital platforms. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, and took place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on December 6, 2018.
![youtube octopath traveler ost youtube octopath traveler ost](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ubnAVUv5dqU/maxresdefault.jpg)
The Game Awards 2018 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2018.