It\u2019s 2012. Barack Obama is president. Gamers are melting down over the ending of Mass Effect 3. Harvey Smith and Raphael Colantonio, then at Dishonored developer Arkane Studios, are flying on a Bethesda-chartered private jet to Los Angeles for the Spike Video Game Awards, hosted by Samuel L. Jackson and held at Sony Pictures Studios.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dishonored is up for several awards, including Game of the Year (it loses to Telltale\u2019s The Walking Dead), Best Xbox 360 Game (it loses to Halo 4), Best PS3 Game (it loses to Journey), and Best Action-Adventure Game (it wins). Jessica Alba presents Smith and Colantonio with their trophy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, when you get it good, and when someone says, \u2018Here\u2019s a bonus, and by the way, we\u2019re going to take you to The Game Awards,\u2019 you cry. Literally. We literally cried,\u201d Smith told me over a video call.<\/p>\n
Things are a little different 13 years later. Donald Trump is president. Gamers are melting down over whether or not Lara Croft is hot enough for them. Arkane Austin doesn\u2019t exist anymore (though both Smith and Colantonio are still working on games). And the Game Awards streams online as cable TV is dismantled and sold for parts<\/a>. The only constant is the man who worked on both shows: Geoff Keighley.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the video game industry in which he operates has changed dramatically. Back-to-back years of layoffs and studio closures, market consolidation, and a race to embrace generative AI have left many developers dazed, confused, and unemployed. Video game launches don\u2019t have as much fanfare as they did in the aughts<\/a>\u2014there are no appearances from Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan. And the Game Awards, while still boasting some Hollywood talent, isn\u2019t as star-studded as the defunct Spike ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>\n Organizing gaming\u2019s Oscars<\/b> <\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot of behind-the-scenes organizing for awards ceremonies that doesn\u2019t get as much attention. The teams that work on putting together these events are vast, and often involve multiple companies that aren\u2019t directly tied to the industry being honored that night (they might be production companies, security firms, contractors, and seasonal staff). The Peacock Theater, where The Game Awards is held, seats up to 7,100, and Keighley and company have to decide how they all get divvied up.\u00a0<\/p>\n The cost of putting on an awards show broadcast on cable TV is offset somewhat by the ad sales from the commercials that air during breaks, but the Game Awards are only available on streaming platforms (no commercials), so Keighley sells coveted spots for reveals, trailers, and previews, as well as sponsorships for specific awards<\/a>. While some slots are reserved for the biggest surprises and Keighley curates free slots for what he personally wants to champion, others have to pay to get in front of the millions of eyeballs watching from home<\/a>.<\/p>\n And the prices keep going up. According to two sources familiar with this year\u2019s show, a 60-second trailer during the 2025 ceremony can cost up to $450,000. A three-minute trailer costs over $1 million. Two separate sources in the video game publishing world said that while they had not been briefed on this year\u2019s rates, these sounded in line with what they\u2019d expect from previous years.<\/p>\n But what about attendance? Tom Cruise gets to go to the Oscars, but he may only be allowed a single guest, and most of the people behind the latest Mission: Impossible flick likely won\u2019t get an invite. You don\u2019t see the gaffer from Challengers sitting at the table next to Zendaya, and Keighley clearly wants to evoke Hollywood-style allure for his annual ceremony (why else would Al Pacino be invited?).\u00a0<\/p>\n However, the video game industry isn\u2019t Hollywood, despite its best efforts. It\u2019s not financially viable to invite 100-plus-person studios to attend the Game Awards for free, but do you know of a single awards show that offers for-sale tickets to its potential honorees, tickets which are pulled from the same pool as those sold to the general public (i.e., fans)? The Game Awards does.<\/p>\n According to multiple developers from both smaller indie studios and AAA monoliths who wished to remain anonymous, the Game Awards only offers two tickets to attend the ceremony to studios that get nominated, though there was at least one instance in which a developer received more than that, and some overall confusion about which studios get preferential treatment (aka more than the two generally allotted). The Game Awards\u2019 organizers did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n A source told Kotaku that Sandfall Interactive, the studio behind this year\u2019s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, bought a swath of tickets at face value (around $300 each) to ensure more of the team could attend. Expedition 33 recently set a record for the most nominations in Game Awards history with 12, so the desire to send as many people to the ceremony as possible makes sense. Sandfall did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n \u00a0But not every studio has the means or the desire to send a large crew of developers to the ceremony\u2014whether it\u2019s due to ticket pricing, the cost of travel, or other factors.\u00a0<\/p>\n One developer who worked on a game nominated for Best Accessibility at the 2024 Game Awards told me that their studio had to \u201cbuy the rest\u201d of the tickets, as there were \u201conly two up front for our nomination.\u201d The two team members who were given the free tickets through the Game Awards sat in one area, while the larger group was scattered throughout the Peacock Theater. The source said that the tickets the studio purchased for the developers appeared to be full price.<\/p>\n \u201cI was told that the team was offered two tickets as nominees (these tickets come with access to the red carpet and green room experiences), and then provided a link to a page where additional tickets could be purchased,\u201d a lead designer nominated last year who wished to remain anonymous told me. \u201cAs far as I could tell, the page was just the publicly available ticket page, and there were no discounts or special access to ticket allotments (i.e., particular seats in the theater) available.\u201d<\/p>\n Because of this, the game director purchased their own ticket from the public-facing ticket pool for around $700. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to miss a likely once-in-a-lifetime experience of being there in person for a nominated game that I\u2019d had a major hand in, so I paid.\u201d The Game Awards did not respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Seat fillers and superfans<\/b> <\/p>\n While restricted availability for nominees can be chalked up to limited space and funds, things get complicated when you open up attendance to an industry\u2019s award show to the general public. Matan Even, the 2022 stage crasher, told Polygon<\/a> he bought a ticket to the ceremony during the general sale and \u201csimply walked up from his seat in the audience alongside the award winners.\u201d<\/p>\n This year, tickets were released on October 30, while nominees were revealed on November 17<\/a>. \u201cDon\u2019t watch the surprises\u2014be in the room,\u201d The Game Awards official announcement for ticket sales read.\u00a0<\/p>\n By November 7, I was told by the Game Awards\u2019 organizers that there were already no more free tickets available for press (I received one last year as a freelancer and the year before through my work at Kotaku). On that day, the Game Awards tickets ranged in price<\/a> from $58.92 for upper mezzanine seats to over $1,000 for resale tickets in the back of center orchestra (most of the high-profile attendees sit in the front of this section). Last week,\u00a0 there were three tickets available in the center orchestra for $997 each (resale), and a smattering of tickets surrounding that section, ranging in price from $500-$800. Upper and lower mezzanine seats, also sporadically available, were going for between $300 and $545.\u00a0<\/p>\n A freelance narrative writer who worked on a game nominated this year expressed frustration about the Game Awards\u2019 ticketing process. Because they are no longer under contract with the nominated studio, they weren\u2019t invited through the typical email from the Game Awards\u2019 organizers, but still wanted to attend the event to celebrate their work.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf Arkane in 2005, when we shipped Dark Messiah, had been nominated, it would have been just me there, period. It\u2019s expensive, and it would have felt like a sacrifice.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cEven if I had wanted to pay the inflated prices for scalper tickets, I couldn\u2019t find 2 seats together,\u201d they told me, with said tickets, according to them, running between $600-$1000. \u201cAt the very least, TGA should wait to sell general release tickets until after the nominations are announced\u2026or have a separate bucket of tickets for devs who can provide proof that they worked on a nominated game.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead of buying tickets that cost more than some people\u2019s monthly rent, the dev signed up for the seat filler program, which is organized by Gotham Casting. It\u2019s unclear how many free tickets are set aside this way, but they wondered if the Game Awards prioritizes giving fans tickets over industry members because \u201cthe fans will scream and cheer for the trailers and the devs won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n The Eventbrite listing for seat fillers is directed at \u201cALL GAMERS and Video Game Fans & Enthusiasts!\u201d and promises \u201chuge special performances to be announced\u201d and instructions for what to expect on the day of the event. Seat fillers have to arrive two hours before the show starts and are instructed on how to dress (\u201cmen: upscale casual attire\/button down shirts ok,\u201d \u201cwomen: cocktail dresses\/upscale outfits\u201d) and told not to wear cosplay, ripped jeans, or sneakers (unlike host Geoff Keighley).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs a seatfiller, there will be an opportunity that you will be on camera,\u201d the description reads. \u201cSeat fillers will begin their night seated in the holding area in the theater. As PAID TICKET HOLDERS ARRIVE, we move seat fillers as needed.\u201d Seat fillers are also reminded that \u201cguests have paid upwards of HUNDREDS a ticket for their seats!\u201d and to make sure they \u201cenjoy show [sic] & have fun!\u201d Gotham Casting did not reply to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gaming\u2019s biggest night<\/b> <\/p>\n Keighley clearly wants the Game Awards to be big and bold and shiny\u2014the best annual celebration of video games that monolithic studio money and Old Spice deodorant can buy. But there is a clear, consistent tension between putting on a show that honors the people working on video games and one that keeps the millions of fans watching in the hopes of seeing a trailer for The Elder Scrolls 6.<\/p>\n