2027 New York Game Awards: Troy Baker to Receive Andrew Yoon Legend Award

The 16th annual New York Game Awards are scheduled for November 19, 2026, with actor Troy Baker set to receive the Andrew Yoon Legend Award. The event is identified as the 2027 New York Game Awards despite taking place in late 2026, a naming convention worth keeping in mind for viewers searching for broadcast details or tickets.

Baker’s body of game work includes performances in The Last of Us and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. At the New York ceremony, the recognition will extend beyond a single role or recent release: the Andrew Yoon Legend Award is intended for people whose work has made a substantial cultural impact on games.

The awards show will be livestreamed through the event’s official streaming arrangements, including web and YouTube channels, as well as the New York Videogame Critics Circle’s social accounts. Viewers looking for another awards-season viewing guide can also see how to watch the Golden Joystick Awards 2026.

What the Andrew Yoon Legend Award recognizes

The honor commemorates Andrew Yoon, the late New York Videogame Critics Circle member and journalist. Its focus is on industry “game changers” whose contributions have helped move the medium forward and connected with audiences. That framing matters because it differentiates the award from a category prize for one game, one performance, or one release year.

In this case, the selection recognizes an actor whose performances have become closely associated with prominent games across a lengthy period. Reggie Fils-Aimé, a New York Videogame Critics Circle board member and former Nintendo of America president, characterized Baker’s work as bringing personality and meaning to characters in some of the industry’s most beloved games.

Harold Goldberg, the organization’s co-founder and president, said the group considers deep cultural impact when choosing Andrew Yoon Legend recipients. The organization had previously recognized Baker’s voice-acting performances at the New York Game Awards, but the Legend Award places that earlier recognition within a broader career-spanning honor.

Voice acting and cultural impact in games

Voice acting is sometimes used as shorthand for only dialogue recording, but modern game performances can be central to how players understand a character’s personality, emotional stakes, and place in a story. When a performance endures, audiences may remember the character’s voice and delivery alongside the game’s mechanics, art direction, or set pieces.

The Andrew Yoon Legend Award’s emphasis on cultural influence makes that distinction especially relevant. A performance can be critically noticed at launch, while a legacy award considers the longer arc: whether the work remains meaningful across multiple games, audiences, and years. Baker’s selection reflects that latter kind of recognition rather than a judgment tied to one new project.

Ryan O’Callaghan, executive director of the New York Videogame Critics Circle, also pointed to Baker’s interactions with students ahead of the awards. That detail links the ceremony’s honoree to the organization’s education work, rather than treating the event only as an industry gathering.

In-person tickets, concert and VIP details

The ceremony will be held at SVA Theatre. Standard admission costs $85, while a limited number of VIP tickets cost $100. All ticket holders can attend Baker’s post-awards concert.

VIP admission adds preferred seating for the awards presentation and entry to the official after-party, which is presented by New Blood Interactive. Those distinctions are useful for prospective attendees: the concert is not restricted to the VIP tier, while preferred seating and after-party access are the stated VIP-specific benefits.

Date: November 19, 2026
Event: 16th annual New York Game Awards
Venue: SVA Theatre
Standard ticket: $85
VIP ticket: $100, in limited quantity
All in-person ticket holders: Eligible for the post-awards Troy Baker concert
VIP extras: Preferred awards seating and official after-party access

Tickets are available through Humanitix. The supplied event information does not specify a broadcast start time, a complete list of competitive categories, or the full set of nominees, so viewers should avoid assuming those details from the ticket information alone.

Where ticket proceeds are going

Proceeds from this year’s event will benefit Playing with Purpose, the New York Videogame Critics Circle program that offers journalism classes and workshops along with game narrative-writing courses. The program serves schools and shelters throughout New York City.

Game narrative writing refers to writing created for interactive experiences: characters, dialogue, story structure, world-building, and the ways story information is delivered around player action. It is related to traditional creative writing, but interactivity can change the constraints. A course in the subject can therefore be a practical entry point for students interested in how stories function in games, while journalism instruction develops a different set of communication and reporting skills.

Playing with Purpose received its first grant from the National Endowment for the Arts this year. The grant will support expanded classes for students in the Hudson Valley Middletown School District and continued work at the Lab School for Finance and Technology and High School for Fashion Industries.

That educational connection gives the ticketed event a defined charitable purpose. For people deciding between attending in person and watching the stream, the in-person option combines the ceremony, the concert, and direct support for the writing program; the livestream offers access to the awards broadcast without those venue-based elements.

What to expect from the broadcast

For remote audiences, the essential point is straightforward: the awards will have an official livestream on web and YouTube platforms, with additional coverage on the New York Videogame Critics Circle’s official social channels. It is a separate experience from the SVA Theatre program, where the concert follows the awards and VIP guests have after-party access.

The announced information positions Baker’s Legend Award as one of the ceremony’s major featured moments. His planned musical performance is exclusive to people attending in person, so viewers should not read the livestream announcement as confirmation that the concert will be included in the broadcast.

With the event’s proceeds supporting journalism and game-writing education, the 2027 New York Game Awards will pair its industry honors with a program designed to give students access to relevant creative and reporting skills. Baker’s recognition, the in-person concert, and that educational fundraising role form the core of what has been announced ahead of November 19.