The Game Awards 2026 on Disney+: Date, Time and Details

Disney+ will carry The Game Awards live for the first time on Thursday, December 10, 2026, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET and 4:30 p.m. PT. The show runs from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and, per Disney’s announcement, includes the awards themselves, world premiere game announcements and musical performances.

That is the short version. The useful part for anyone planning to watch is separating what Disney actually confirmed from the assumptions that tend to travel with an awards show announcement.

What Disney has confirmed

Date and time: Thursday, December 10, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT.
Venue: the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Content: awards presentations, world premiere game announcements and musical performances, streamed live.
Where: Disney+ in the United States, and Disney+ in select international markets.
Voting: fans can vote at thegameawards.com once nominations are announced and voting opens. Disney’s release does not give a nominations date.
Production: Geoff Keighley and Kimmie Kim executive produce, Richard Preuss directs, LeRoy Bennett is creative director and Lara Karchmer is co-executive producer.

What Disney has not said

Disney’s announcement does not describe the Disney+ stream as exclusive. The Game Awards has been carried on multiple platforms in previous years, and nothing in the release says that changes. If you do not subscribe to Disney+, the honest position is that you should wait for the show’s own channel announcements rather than assume a single home.

Disney also did not announce a nominations date, a full category list or a runtime. Those details normally arrive in the weeks before the broadcast.

Why Disney+ wants this show

The press release frames the move as part of a wider gaming slate on Disney’s services, naming Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Animation and the upcoming anime series DEATH STRANDING ISOLATIONS, which goes to Hulu in the United States and Disney+ internationally. Disney also says viewers can expect announcements tied to its own game-related titles during the evening.

That is the commercial logic: an awards show pulls a large, young, game-buying audience into a service that otherwise sells family films and franchise television. It is the same playbook streaming services have used with live sports.

How to watch without surprises

Check your plan: Disney+ tiers and regional catalogues differ, and the release only promises the stream in “select international markets”.
Expect a long night: The Game Awards has historically run well past two hours. Plan for the pre-show and the main show separately if you only want the announcements.
Watch for the world premieres: the announcements are usually the reason people tune in, and they are not repeated in a tidy summary until after the broadcast.
Do not buy hardware for it: a smart TV app, a console app or a streaming stick you already own will do. Our guide to budget streaming devices that are actually worth buying covers the cheap options if your TV app is slow.

The gaming context

2026 has been a loud year for the industry: record-breaking sales claims, a crowded release calendar and a steady stream of platform policy changes. If you want the numbers behind the year’s biggest commercial stories, our breakdown of the highest-grossing video game records is the place to start.

The awards themselves are voted by a mix of juries and fans, and the show’s own site is the only authoritative source for categories and rules. Treat any social post claiming a full nominee list before the official announcement as unverified.

What we did not do

We did not watch a preview stream, and we have no inside information about nominations, winners or exclusive announcements. The date, time, venue, production credits and availability language above come from Disney’s November 12 announcement. We have not claimed the Disney+ stream is exclusive because the announcement does not say so.