Indie devs' anti-Game Awards trailer trend is going viral

The Game Awards has become a massive platform for the announcement of new games. Reveals this year included Crystal Dynamics' new Tomb Raider games and Lucasfilm Games and Arcanaut Studios' Star Wars Fate of the Old Republic (yeah, we'll believe that when we see a release date).

But how much did those developers pay to announce their games at the event? The figures being quoted have sparked a viral 'anti-Game Awards trailer' trend among indie developers who already felt that the event was failing them.

According to sources cited by Kotaku, submitting a trailer to the Game Awards can cost up to $450,000 for a 60-second trailer and $1 million for a three-minute one.

The Game Awards sells spaces for reveals, trailers and previews as well as sponsorships for specific awards. Some are reportedly reserved for the "biggest surprises", which are seen as benefiting the event itself, and Geoff Keighley is said to curate "free slots for what he personally wants to champion."

While the price sounds steep, it seems to be in line with previous years. On Reddit, someone who worked at an agency at the time says they saw an estimated cost of around $5,000 a second in around 2022. At that time, it was also confirmed that some placements were free “if Geoff deemed it relevant enough”.

Clearly there are AAA developers who can pay that kind of money. It's also worth remembering that The Game Awards reported 154 million livestreams. That's more than the viewership of the Super Bowl, so perhaps it's not surprising that pricing isn't so far from Super Bowl territory.

But most indie devs don't have anything like that kind of budget, so they're posting their trailers on X for free in what's quickly become a trend.

The revelation of the hefty price tags comes as indie devs were already feeling let down by the event. Most games nominated for awards this year were AAA titles, reflecting a notable imbalance with their market share.

Although Clair Obscur Expedition 33's developer Sandfall Interactive is technically an independent studio, the size of its team and finances through its partnership with publisher Kepler Interactive mean it was hardly operating on most indie devs' budgets.

Some have put forward ideas for systems to grant some free spots to indie devs. One proposal is a platform to gather trailers where the community could vote on which ones make it to the show. Others suggest organising an alternative event for indie games at the same time as The Game Awards.

In the meantime, you might want to check out our own pick of the best-looking games announced at the Game Awards 2025.