Report: The Game Awards trailers can cost devs up to $1 million
According to a Kotaku report, submitting a trailer to be presented at the Game Awards can reportedly cost developers up to $450,000 for a 60-second trailer, and $1 million for a three-minute-long one.
The first figure comes via two sources familiar with this year's show. Moreover, two separate sources in video game publishing said that while they had not been briefed on this year's rates, these "sounded in line with what they'd expect from previous years," as told to Kotaku.
The Game Awards sells coveted spots for reveals, trailers, and previews, as well as sponsorships for specific awards. Some slots are reserved for the "biggest surprises," and organizer Geoff Keighley curates "free slots for what he personally wants to champion." But aside from these exceptions, developers who want to get their games in front of millions of viewers (154 million in 2024, according to The Game Awards) have to pay the aforementioned fees.
Last year, an Esquire report on Summer Game Fest, an annual showcase that's also organized by Keighley, provided a first insight into how much trailers can cost. Back then, prices reportedly ranged from $250,000 for a one-minute trailer, $350,000 for 90 seconds, to $550,00 for two and a half minutes.
An Esquire source acknowledged those costs may be too much for smaller studios, calling the price structure "an unattainable goal for most indie developers and publishers."
The 2023 Game Awards had a similar pricing structure but, as noted by Kotaku, some major publishers get "earned editorial placements" during the main show at no cost.
Nominated studios are reportedly offered only two tickets to attend the ceremonyAccording to multiple developers speaking to Kotaku, from "both smaller indie studios and triple-A monoliths" who wished to remain anonymous, the Game Awards reportedly offers only two tickets to attend the ceremony to studios that get nominated.
The report notes there was at least one instance in which a developer received more than that, and some overall confusion about which studios get preferential treatment (as in, more than two tickets).
A source told Kotaku that Sandfall Interactive, the studio behind this years Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, bought a "swath of tickets at face value" (around $300 each) to ensure more members of the team could attend. The game received 12 nominations, setting a record for most nominations in Game Awards history.
A freelance narrative writer who worked on a game nominated this year expressed frustration to Kotaku about the ticketing process of the event. Since they're no longer under contract with the nominated studio, they didn't qualify for an official invite. Attempting to purchase a ticket from resellers didn't prove to be fruitful either.
"Even if I had wanted to pay the inflated prices for scalper tickets, I couldn't find 2 seats together," the source told Kotaku, with said tickets, according to the source, running between $600 to $1000. "At the very least, TGA should wait to sell general release tickets until after the nominations are announced…or have a separate bucket of tickets for devs who can provide proof that they worked on a nominated game."
The lead-up to this year's Game Awards hasn't been without complications. The developer of breakout indie Megabonk withdrew an award nomination for 'Best Debut Indie Game,' with the developer saying that he had made games in the past under different studio names, so Megabonk didn't actually qualify as a debut game to him.
More prominent is the case of the Game Awards' Future Class program, which served to champion and "represent the bright, bold, and inclusive future of video games." After two years in a row without the organization announcing a new cohort of industry professionals, Future Class organizer Emily Weir confirmed to Game Developer that the Game Awards isn't planning a new Future Class for this year, nor does the organization have "any active programming plans for Future Class."
The Game Awards has also removed the Future Class page on its website, eliminating the definitive record of previous honorees. Malek Teffaha, who was recognized by the group in 2022, told Game Developer that the news "honestly hurt."
"I, among others, thought that the Future Class program was not just a platform for celebration, but a means to bridge the gap between industry workers and leaders and help shape the future of the game industry."
Game Developer has contacted the Game Awards for clarification on the matter.
