Defector, a website from which we are wholly independent but without the influence of which we would not exist, has an annual tradition that I’ve always admired: cataloguing every SEO-baiting post that both asks and answers a simple question: What time does the Super Bowl start? Mere hours away from video games’ own Super Bowl (extremely loud incorrect buzzer sound), I thought I’d do the same for The Game Awards.
Much like with the Super Bowl, Google publishes information about The Game Awards’ start time at the top of the screen if you simply search “game awards what time” or something to that effect. Its “people also ask” section goes on to answer additional questions like “What time is The Game Awards 2023 est,” “What date is The Game Awards,” and “Where can I watch Oscars 2023 on Sling TV?” But, each year, numerous sites nonetheless duke it out to reap the sweet, sweet search traffic of people who decide to scroll further down for some reason.
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of sites that published such posts and, more importantly, when they published them (timestamps included where obtainable):
- Marca: February 12, 2023, 11:27 PM EST
- Marca (again): July 12, 2023, 11:42 AM EST
- Screen Rant: August 22, 2023
- Insider Gaming: August 22, 2023
- Gadgets Now: October 10, 2023, 7:44 PM EST
- Den of Geek: November 9, 2023
- Sportskeeda: November 11, 2023, 12:49, PM EST
- Sportskeeda (again): November 13, 2023, 1:48 PM EST
- GG Recon: November 15, 2023
- One Esports: November 15, 2023
- Nintendo Life: November 20, 2023
- Polygon: November 23, 2023
- Sports Illustrated: November 27, 2023
- Digital Trends: December 2, 2023
- IGN: December 4, 2023, 3:03 PM EST
- Kotaku: December 6, 2023
- AOL: December 6, 2023
- Yahoo: December 6, 2023, 7:41 PM EST
- Eurogamer: December 7, 2023
- VG247: December 7, 2023
- Video Gamer: December 7, 2023
- Sportskeeda (again): December 7, 2023, 3:03 AM EST
- Sportskeeda (again): December 7, 2023, 4:28 AM EST
- GamesRadar: December 7, 2023, 6:00 AM EST
- The Verge: December 7, 2023, 10 AM EST
- PC Gamer: December 7, 2023, 11 AM EST
- Forbes: December 7, 2023, 11:01 AM EST
- Video Games Chronicle: December 7, 2023, 11:41 AM EST
- Dexerto: December 7, 2023, 12:17 PM EST
- Variety: December 7, 2023, 1:30 PM EST
- GameSpot: December 7, 2023, 1:32 PM EST
- Kotaku AU: December 7, 2023, 3:55 PM EST
- Inverse: December 7, 2023, 5:27 PM EST
At least a few of the publications listed here updated a post one or multiple times throughout the year, making it less clear when they first published. I did my best – via checking dates on comments and things of that nature – to figure out their real initial publishing dates. Others posted multiple entries throughout the year in a desperate attempt to rise to the top of the SEO heap, with Sportskeeda going absolutely ham on that front (I’m not sure I even found all of its posts, to be honest).
Lastly, since I am pretty shamelessly ripping off Defector’s format here, I may as well answer the all important question: What time does “What Time Does ‘What Time Do The Game Awards Start?’ Start?” start? The answer to that is December 7, 2023, 6:03 PM EST.
