The Game Awards host and organizer Geoff Keighley has opened up on the challenges of running a show that aims to celebrate games and the people who make them while also acknowledging the challenging times people in the industry today are facing. So far in 2025, numerous developers lost their jobs, Microsoft canceled games, and the industry further consolidated with EA announcing plans to sell itself to Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to The Game Business, Keighley said the introduction of the Game Changer award in 2024 was an initial attempt to address this. Amir Satvat was given the prize for his work to support people who were laid off in the gaming industry.
Keighley hasn’t said if this award is coming back in 2025, but it would be a glaring omission if it did not. In any event, Keighley said walking the line between celebrating games and acknowledging current circumstances is no easy task.
“It’s a very difficult needle to thread, because on one level, it is a celebration of the industry. But the games are made by incredible developers, and it’s been a challenging period overall. I don’t have all the answers about the right way to [address it].”
Keighley went on to say he feels a “weight” on his shoulders to do more because The Game Awards has such a large platform. But at the same time, Keighley said he understands that people watch the show to see their favorite games get celebrated and get hyped for the news and reveals.
“How we square that is something that we think a lot about. Some people online think that we’re oblivious to it. We’re definitely thinking about the right way to represent the industry to the wider world. Do we always get it right? No. It’s a very complex situation to figure out exactly what to do,” he said.
People have also criticized The Game Awards (and numerous other entertainment awards shows, for that matter) for not being more heavily focused on the awards themselves, and instead also serving as a marketing events for games. Each year, people regularly criticize the event for zipping through the awards themselves and giving developers a limited time to speak while time and attention is paid to trailers and advertisements from sponsors.
“There are many different constituents that tune in,” he said. “And it is a balancing act. “There’s the awards aspect of the show, there’s the announcement aspect, and yes, there are some people that would like to see the show be all awards. Some would like to see all announcements.”
Keighley said his take is that the promise of exciting announcements help create a “very wide audience” for who might want to watch the show. More people watching to see the brand-new reveals–including whatever the heck that scary monolith is–will in turn create increased viewership for when the awards are handed out. Or at least that’s how Keighley sees it and explains it, and he shared some anecdotes that back up his claims, to an extent.
“My view always is that the announcements create a very wide audience that tunes into the show. And because of that, when we do give out these awards, they’re seen by a lot of people,” he said. “Lots of games get sold out of The Game Awards. Balatro had a huge boost. So hopefully it’s a good thing for developers. But that careful balance is a hard thing to strike and we don’t always get it right.”
The Game Awards takes place on Thursday, December 11, beginning at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET, with a pre-show set to begin 30 minutes prior. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 picked up 12 nominations overall, including a nod for Game of the Year, and is the most-nominated game in the history of the show.
For more, check out all the categories and nominees below, along with our roundup of the biggest snubs and our predictions for what will be announced.