Once a year, the people who make the hilarious, tasteless, but always attention-grabbing ads for video games hand out awards. And this year, that will happen on April 22 as the annual Game Marketing Summit takes place in San Francisco.
Today the conference is announcing the finalists for the 10th annual Game Marketing Awards to honor the top creative work produced by and for the video game marketing community. Marketing games is a big business as it motivates consumers to drop $78 billion a year on games of all kinds, according to Digi-Capital.
Actor and comedian Jeff Leach will host the awards ceremony to celebrate the best practices in marketing, promotion, and advertising for the game industry. This year, about 20 percent more nominees applied than in 2014.
“We are thrilled that entries for this year’s Game Marketing Awards were at an all-time high,” said Kym Nelson, the co-chair of the Game Marketing Board of Governors and the senior vice president of sales at game livestreaming firm Twitch, in a statement. “This is a reflection of the incredible work being done by marketing professionals in the ever-growing video game industry. Video game marketing is art — there is truly nothing like it, and we are proud to recognize the achievements of these amazing individuals.”
The GMAs recognize marketing excellence in 42 categories, from Outstanding Overall Marketing Campaign of the Year to Best PR Campaign and Best Game Footage Trailer. Top finalists receiving the most nominations for the 2015 Game Marketing Awards include the following:
2K
Activision
AKQA
Ant Farm
Electronic Arts
g-NET
Heat
Microsoft Xbox
Midnight Oil
Sony Computer Entertainment America
Ubisoft