The last decade of The Game Awards have brought countless unforgettable musical performances from some of the most talented people in the industry. With the 10th annual Game Awards going down this week, let’s look back at some of the best live performances the award show has brought us.
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
The Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course performance brought a rare genre of music to The Game Awards, with a trio of singers dressed as flappers singing a song that sounds like something you’d hear in a cartoon from a century ago. What’s more, this performance also brought a new look at Cuphead’s then upcoming DLC.
Stefanie Joosten performs Quiet’s Theme
Stefanie Joosten’s performance of Quiet’s Theme from Metal Gear Solid 5 begins reserved and understated, growing into a swell of emotion by its end. It’s an excellent song rich with feeling, and her raw performance was an early glimpse at what live music at The Game Awards could deliver.
The Game Awards Orchestra plays the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Theme
The Super Smash Bros. Theme is like an angelic rallying cry, instantly evoking strong emotions regardless of your attachment to the platform fighter. Taking place on the same day that the game was released worldwide, this performance was the perfect way to welcome a game that would go on to define the Switch era and dominate discussions for years to come.
Koji Kondo and Imagine Dragons play Zelda music
It’s hard to imagine legendary composer Koji Kondo collaborating with Imagine Dragons to perform songs from Zelda, but it was that exact performance that gave the first Game Awards a stamp of authenticity and set the tone for many unexpected musical performances to follow. With Mr. Kondo on the piano and the members of Imagine Dragons providing strings and vocals, this performance brought us a rare take on music from the Legend of Zelda series.
Red Dead Redemption 2 soundtrack
Music is a key player in the way Red Dead Redemption 2 immerses us in the old west. If you close your eyes and listen to this live performance, you feel like you’re walking into a saloon at sundown, or riding in the back of a horse-drawn carriage. The standout moment was the performance of Unshaken, a song that so beautifully encapsulates the tribulations of Red Dead 2’s protagonist, Arthur Morgan.
Eddie Vedder performs Future Days
There’s something special about a needle drop that perfectly captures a character's thoughts and emotions despite not actually being written for them. There arguably aren’t any examples greater than the way Pearl Jam’s Future Days represents the inner turmoil that Joel feels during The Last of Us Part 2. Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder performed the song himself at the 2020 Game Awards (remotely due to the pandemic), and it was a full circle moment for the fans and creators of TLOU 2.
CHVRCHES perform Death Stranding
Those who managed to roll credits on Death Stranding had already been treated to CHVRCHES’ beautiful song named after the Kojima Productions game. When the band appeared on stage at the 2019 ceremony to perform it with a live orchestra, we were blessed with an amazing performance anchored by lead singer Lauren Mayberry.
Sam Lake dances with Poets of the Fall
When Poets of the Fall took the stage to perform Herald of Darkness from Alan Wake 2 at the 2023 Game Awards, it felt more like a well-executed stage production. Performing as their fictional counterpart, Old Gods of Asgard, Poets of the Fall’s performance was essentially a piece of Alan Wake 2’s story playing out in the real world. It was a brilliant way to honor the game’s deeply meta nature while delivering an entertaining performance to everyone watching the show. To top it all off, Sam Lake, creative director at Remedy Entertainment, joined the band on stage and danced along to the music. We’ll likely never see something of this ilk again, and it’s the kind of performance that could only happen at The Game Awards.
Mick Gordon performs Doom
It’s hard to imagine id Software’s 2016 reboot of Doom without the brain-shattering soundtrack composed by Mick Gordon. With that, Gordon’s performance of the Doom soundtrack at the 2016 Game Awards remains the most memorable moment from the entire ceremony. Only the soundtrack to Doom could completely transform an award show venue into a heated rock festival, and it’s still impossible not to stand up and strum an air guitar when returning to this legendary performance eight years later.
The Game Awards 2017 Orchestra
It’s a Game Awards tradition that the orchestra plays a medley of songs from every game nominated for Game of the Year right before the coveted award is given out. 2017 remains one of the strongest years for game releases of the modern era, and that year’s live performance was appropriately epic. Where else can you hear Nintendo’s enchanting theme for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild transition into the punchy Rivers in the Desert from Persona 5, only for it to conclude with Kate Higgins taking the stage to sing Jump Up, Super Star, the signature song of Super Mario Odyssey, with the New Donk City festival playing on the big screen? It’s nearly 10 minutes of some of the best music ever put to video games, and this performance remains the perfect microcosm of the legendary year that was 2017.
Those are the Game Awards performances that have stuck with us the most over the past decade. We look forward to seeing what memorable performances are in store for 2024 and the years to come.
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replyDonovan Erskine posted a new article, The best live performances in the history of The Game Awards
