Have you ever wondered how much it would actually cost publishers to showcase a trailer at Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest Opening Showcase? Well, probably not. But you’re here now, which means you’re likely just a little bit curious, right?
Thanks to Esquire (via Eurogamer), the costs for game trailers have been revealed, and it ain’t cheap, folks. Basically, publishers looking to showcase a one-minute trailer will need to fork up $250,000. Add 30 seconds and you’re looking at $350,000. Two minutes is $450,000, and two-and-a-half minutes is $550,000.
For major publishers like Ubisoft or Sega (both of which featured at last year’s event, by the way), this cost is likely a mere drop in the ocean, but according to one PR professional, “The current pricing tiers make Summer Game Fest an unattainable goal for most indie developers and publishers.” Yeah, we can imagine.
As for Nintendo, well… it kinda reinforces why the firm has yet to participate in Summer Game Fest, doesn’t it? However, according to reports, if a particularly juicy reveal is scheduled to be showcased (or your surname happens to rhyme with ‘Mojima’), then you might not even have to pay such astronomical prices.
Regardless, Nintendo clearly doesn’t need Summer Game Fest as much as Summer Game Fest needs Nintendo. We suspect that if Nintendo wanted to reveal something like, say, Mario Kart 9, then Geoff will likely just roll out the red carpet, produce a bunch of Mario Kart-themed lanyards, and not charge Nintendo a penny. But we doubt that will be happening anytime soon.
This year’s Opening Showcase will be broadcast live today at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 10pm BST / 11pm CEST. We’ll have a live blog ready to go, so if you fancy stopping by, we’ll be here. In the meantime, check out our full Summer Game Fest 2024 guide for all the relevant details.