Geoff Keighley clarifies how trailers are selected for Gamescom Opening Night Live - GamesIndustry.biz
"Of course, you can place some advertisements in Opening Night Live, but the vast majority of the content is free," he said. He said that Opening Night Live featured both editorial placements and paid placements. Keighley also gave some clarification on how games are selected to be editorial placements.
Editorially selected games get in for free, but others are paid placements
In a press pre-briefing ahead of next week's Gamescom conference, Geoff Keighley has shed some light on the process of how trailers are selected for the Opening Night Live digital showcase, which will take place on Tuesday.
Keighley is also the host of The Game Awards, and in December, Kotaku reported that it allegedly cost up to $450,000 to place a 60-second trailer in the 2025 awards ceremony. Last summer, Aftermath reported that a 60-second trailer in the Keighley-hosted Opening Night Live allegedly cost €102,500 ($119,600).
But in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz last August, Felix Falk, managing director of Game, the German Games Industry Association, said that it was free to place a trailer in Opening Night Live. "Of course, you can place some advertisements in Opening Night Live, but the vast majority of the content is free," he said. "No matter if you're a AAA title or indie, as long as your content is brilliant, Geoff will decide to put you in a show, and it doesn't cost you a penny."
Today, in a Q&A session during the press pre-briefing, GamesIndustry.biz asked Keighley to clarify what it costs to put a trailer in Opening Night Live, and what constitutes an advertisement.
He said that Opening Night Live featured both editorial placements and paid placements. "Much like companies will purchase a booth at Gamescom and buy space, they'll secure space inside of the show," he said.
"One of the things that's important I think to all of us is that there are games that get selected for editorial value in the show. There's also a lot of independent games that we take. You'll see many small teams, games made by three, four people, that get selected to be inside of ONL, because we believe in those titles, and we believe in those teams and want to support them."
He added that these shows are "marketing events, just like Gamescom is a marketing event, so you can consider everything in many ways is marketing video games, but there are definitely games that we select for editorial consideration in all the shows."
GamesIndustry.biz asked for clarification on whether only games that Keighley selects get into Opening Night Live for free, while everyone else has to pay. He replied that it's "a group decision."
"And I would also say the games that are inside, especially ONL, they're all partners to Gamescom in a way. So the companies that we're working with are already at Gamescom in some form as an exhibitor or something like that, and this is maybe a digital extension of what they're doing with their booths."
Falk, who also took part in the pre-briefing, added that "the vast majority of everything we do on the digital side is not paid and is not advertorial or advertisement," and is instead "free for our partners." He said that Gamescom regarded the digital shows as a "hybrid approach" to extend the reach of the event worldwide, "not just addressing those more than 350,000 people on site."
"It's also economically not important for us to make money with the digital shows first, but to give reach to our partners who are at Gamescom," he said.
Keighley also gave some clarification on how games are selected to be editorial placements. "Part of the thing with the editorial selection is really it's the scale of the news or the announcement," he said.
"Everyone wants to tune in to be surprised with something brand new and exciting. Companies and partners often earn the ability to have editorial places with the level of news that people are bringing to the show." But he noted that the show also features "games that are shipping a few weeks later – that's more advertisement of a game that exists."
Keighley confirmed that Gears of War E-Day will be a part of Opening Night Live, along with Final Fantasy 7: Revelation, Ananta, Metro 2039, and more details on the new expansion for The Witcher 3.
Tim Endres, director of Gamescom at Koelnmesse, also noted during the pre-briefing that GDQ (Games Done Quick) will be at Gamescom for the first time this year, raising money for the Gaming for Democracy initiative. "With this, we are using Gamescom once again as a platform for a good cause, and that is really important to us," he said.
Gamescom 2026 is set to be the biggest ever, with nearly 50 pavilions from 40 countries and more than 1,600 exhibitors.