It featured musical performances from the London Philharmonic Orchestra[b] and Eddie Vedder, and presentations from celebrity guests, including Reggie Fils-Aimé, Gal Gadot, Brie Larson, and Keanu Reeves.

Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross won Best Narrative for their work on the game, while Laura Bailey was awarded Best Performance for her role as Abby.

It received a mixed reception from media publications, with praise directed at new game announcements, and criticism for not allowing developers more time to speak.

[7] Not wanting to take a hiatus and inspired by the success of Summer Game Fest,[8] he considered hosting from his home but his board urged him to attempt a larger show on par with previous years.

[7] The 2020 show—featuring a production of more than 400 people, six of whom are full-time employees—had a budget of under US$10 million[11] and was the most expensive to date, partly due to the COVID-19 tests required for the crew and the worldwide remote camera set-ups.

[8] While developing the show, Keighley spoke to hundreds of viewers via Zoom to discuss their own interests,[9] often alongside industry figures like Valve Corporation president Gabe Newell and Epic Games creative director Donald Mustard.

[12] As with the previous show, the presentation ran alongside the Game Festival, consisting of playable demos and additional in-game content.

The inductees included industry professionals such as Kinda Funny's Blessing Adeoye Jr., Naughty Dog's Halley Gross, and GameSpot's Kallie Plagge.

[16] Winners were determined between the jury (90%) and public votes (10%); the latter was held via the official website and on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and closed on December 9.

Other games with multiple nominations included Hades with nine, Ghost of Tsushima with eight, Final Fantasy VII Remake with six, and Doom Eternal with five.

[14] Inverse's Corey Plante felt the cutoff date led to several games getting snubbed, including Demon's Souls and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, as well as Pokémon Sword and Shield, which was eligible for both the 2019 and 2020 awards but was unrecognized in both.

[32] Den of Geek's Matthew Byrd similarly lamented the lack of recognition for Demon's Souls and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

[33] Kat Bailey of USgamer questioned Doom Eternal's nomination for Game of the Year, describing it as "messy, unfocused, and, well, just not as good" as its predecessor.

[34] Kotaku Australia's Alex Walker similarly found the nomination misplaced and considered games like Half-Life: Alyx and Microsoft Flight Simulator more deserving.

[29] Inverse's Ana Diaz criticized the rapid announcement of winners between premieres and during the preshow, preventing developers from accepting the awards, and its focus on Hollywood actors over game creators.