Video game developers and publishers only have a few avenues of showing off their new titles to broad audiences. This can be from showcases hosted by console makers like Xbox or Sony, trade show features, and a few indie-focused events. Geoff Keighley"s The Game Awards presentation is easily one of the biggest gaming events that happens at the end of every year. Now, just as the 2025 ceremony gets ready for prime time, a new report has seemingly revealed some data about how much it costs to get featured at the event.
According to sources speaking to Kotaku, The Game Awards charges up to $450,000 for a 60-second trailer. Meanwhile, wanting a three-minute spot at the showcase will cost over $1 million instead, not cheap by any measure. Prices for smaller time chunks were not revealed by the sources. These numbers reportedly reflect the 2025 show"s rates.
While it is an awards event, most of The Game Awards" three-hour airtime is dedicated to revealing new trailers and gameplay segments of upcoming games. This can include 30-second adverts by indie studios as well as minutes-long gameplay sessions hosted by publishing giants like PlayStation or EA.
The report also says that Geoff Keighley offers free slots for some games as well, which are chosen by him personally. These may be dedicated for major reveals that will help get more eyes on the event thanks to their larger focus and public hype.
Geoff Keighley has shown some impressive statistics about The Game Awards" growth over the years too. In the decade that the event has been active, it has continuously outperformed previous years" viewership. The 2024 showcase had 154 million global livestreams, beating out 2023"s 118 million number by a healthy margin.
Going by those figures, major publishers probably have no qualms about dropping hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars to show off their upcoming titles to audiences.