by Sarah Fields
The Game Awards draw a ton of viewers every year, in part because of the event's major reveals and new game trailers. However, the majority of trailers aren't aired for free, and it turns out that the cost of having a teaser aired during The Game Awards can get so high that a person could buy over 14,000 brand-new video games for the same price.
Being nominated for an award at The Game Awards' annual ceremony is a big deal for developers and publishers alike. After years of grueling work, it's often an opportunity for developers, actors, and musicians to gain a moment in the spotlight, bringing attention to their efforts and the game they worked on. At the same time the ceremony celebrates amazing games that fans have already enjoyed, it also helps to usher in a new wave of promising titles, with The Game Awards often airing first reveals and premieres.
The Game Awards Trailer Spots are Really, Really Expensive
Every year, The Game Awards plays trailers and teasers between winner announcements. These trailers serve two purposes, as many gamers get to discover new upcoming titles, while charging money for the trailer spots helps to finance the event itself. The prices for these ad spots aren't usually shared with the public, but according to a report from Kotaku, multiple sources have indicated that these slots are anything but cheap. Reserving a one-minute-long trailer spot in Geoff Keighley's show reportedly cost $450,000 this year, with a three-minute slot coming in at over a million dollars. This expense puts it well out of range of the vast majority of indie developers' budgets, and even some AAA studios might hesitate at the cost.
Although these prices may be stunning, one can draw some comparisons that make it seem more reasonable. For example, in 2024, The Game Awards saw over 154 million live streams across the various networks it airs on. Comparatively, the 2025 Super Bowl saw just shy of 128 million viewers. A thirty-second ad aired during the most recent Super Bowl was estimated to cost around $8 million, so one could argue that The Game Awards' ad prices are actually fairly reasonable. However, the costs for developers don't stop at that.
The report also revealed that when games are nominated for awards, the entire team isn't granted tickets to the show. Instead, typically development studios are granted two free tickets to the ceremony. Studios who want more of their members represented have to buy the tickets out of pocket, which can cost up to hundreds of dollars a piece, depending on where the seats are located. Given that the awards usually see numerous members of development teams standing onstage to receive their accolades, it's easy to see how the cost could build up rapidly.
While there isn't an available breakdown of how the money is utilized, it's not hard to imagine how the costs build up for the ceremony. Renting a space — typically the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles — plus hiring people to run the show, celebrities to make appearances, orchestras to perform, and so on surely isn't cheap. The Summer Game Fest, which is also run by Geoff Keighley, also has fairly high prices for airing trailers. In 2024, an Esquire report indicated that studios could pay as much as $550,000 for a two-and-a-half minute-long trailer to be shown there.
Read the full article on GameRant
This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
