According to a new rumor, premiering a trailer at this year’s Summer Game Fest costs $250,000 for 60 seconds.
According to Esquire, a one-minute trailer showcasing your next game costs $250,000, citing “several marketing specialists who sought anonymity” and one insider who claimed “these shows are very fucking expensive.”
Geoff Keighley-produced programs such as Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards have filled a hole left by large-scale press events hosted by Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and others during previous E3s. However, if you want your game to make its debut on a large scale, it will be expensive.
According to Esquire, adding 30 seconds to your video for a 90-second duration will cost $350,000, while two minutes will cost $450,000, and a two and a half minute clip or presentation will cost more than a half million dollars at $550,000.
According to Statista, Summer Game Fest peaked at over two million viewers in 2023, indicating that the majority of the gaming community is tuning in for such events. And that is just the live show; many others will see the premieres on VOD later.
After only a few years, Summer Game Fest has become a de facto E3 substitute, while other firms hold their own exhibitions, such as Microsoft’s Xbox Showcase, Sony’s State of Play, Ubisoft Forward, and others. However, with the possibility of multiple games appearing in the same spot, firms “are willing to pay a premium for the gaming equivalent of the Super Bowl commercial,” Esquire reported.
While gaming does not have the pomp and grandeur of a “one night only” event like the NFL (a 30-second ad for this year’s Super Bowl reportedly cost $7 million), these figures are nothing to scoff at.
Summer Game Fest 2024 will begin tomorrow, June 7, at 4 p.m. CT, and will last many hours, containing new trailers for existing games as well as debuts for undisclosed titles—and plenty of Keighley, of course.