The price tag for presenting a game at The Game Awards ceremony has broken all previous records, and everyone within the gaming community is shocked by it.
Higher Costs for Game Award Trailers
A recent report from Kotaku verifies that if game developers want a three-minute trailer shown at the main event, they have no choice but to pay more than $1 million. Just a 60-second teaser trailer will also set them back as much as $450,000.
The costs do not end with the broadcasting of trailers. The cost of attending an awards ceremony for nominations given to studios keeps rising. These stories serve to amplify worries that there should be less advertising and more recognition of the individuals who made these games.
Is a Price Hike Really Needed?
These costs might be feasible for large publishers. However, they would be cost-prohibitive for indie game development studios who might be rebuilding from industry-wide layoffs, as well as indie game development teams.
Kotaku goes on to add that smaller game development teams get "earned editorial placements." These refer to teams that get trailers for free, depending on the consideration that they are seen as editorially relevant. Large gaming giants such as Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft might qualify for these spots.
However, outside these exceptional instances, it does appear that most production houses have no option but to pay if they want their product featured on center stage, Mark Warren of RockPaperShotgun wrote. This goes on to substantiate complaints about the gaming sector and the practice of pay-to-play visibility.
Netizens React With a Combination of Anger and Sarcasm
News about the pricing broke, and there were immediate reactions on social media
Members of the indie development community also offered their thoughts on Twitter, with several expressing a sense of being "locked out" of an event for promoting their own work. Trade unionists also pointed out an imbalance between rising ad costs and an industry mired in layoffs and burnout.
On the r/PS5 subreddit, one person wrote that it's "terribly shocking" to discover that the "biggest gaming marketing event of the year costs a lot of money."
"It is. I've done 30-second ads that have cost quite a bit more than," another Redditor commented.
"And everyone was talking about how one statue in the desert was 'so much' expensive marketing. They didn't pay those two set designers a million dollars to make that thing, that's for sure!", another concerned netizen replied.
"This is why we've seen less and less game devs contributing to these events - because they have to pay to join lol. What a joke," another gamer said.
