‘We were effective props’: Young game development stars frustrated by ‘Gaming Oscars’ | games

VVideo games have long struggled with diversity and inclusion, so it was no surprise when Game Awards host and producer Geoff Keighley announced the Future Class program in 2020. Its purpose was to highlight a group of individuals working in video games as the “bright, bold, and inclusive future” of the industry.

Given the widespread reach of the annual Kelly-led show, which saw an estimated 154 million live streams last year, Future Class seemed like a real effort. Entrants were invited to attend the popular December ceremony, billed as the “Oscars of Games”, featured on the official Game Awards website, and promised networking opportunities and career advancement advice. However, the program is said to have faced difficulties from the beginning. Over the past two years, support has waned. Now, it appears that the Future of the Game Awards category has been abandoned entirely.

This is the second year in a row that Future Class has not announced a new group: there are usually 50 interns in various disciplines of the games industry, including writing, development, journalism, and community management. As Game Developer reported, organizer Emily Weir confirmed that they are “not planning a new class in the future [2025] “And they have no active programming plans for Future Class.”

Former Future Class recruits say this comes after years of internal advocacy and fighting to improve the program. As the video game industry grapples with another culture war over Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, some members of the Future Class feel they were used for positive publicity, then cast aside when DEI was no longer in vogue.

“We were effective props,” said game producer Diana Lora, who was inducted into the inaugural Futures class in 2020, via video call. “Once we got to the Game Awards (most people came from other countries, which is expensive), we showed up, and felt like we’d been pushed to the side door… We later found out that Kelly had a party in another room with all the influencers and industry people. Do you know where Future Class met that day? At Starbucks.”

“No one from official leadership showed up until the meeting was over,” Jess Negron, Future Class member and creative director of Retcon Games, said of the Starbucks meeting. “We felt very upset about just being cast aside.”

Elsewhere at the 2021 ceremony, Laura, community manager Natalie Chico, podcast host Khalif Adams, and other Future Class recruits were seated behind one of the camera cranes, completely obstructing their view.

Future Class recruits receive program privileges for the next 12 months: a ticket to the Games Awards (graduates are given discounts for purchasing tickets), and access to career advancement opportunities. Many people referred to early career-focused events as conversations with prominent members of the industry such as former Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime and Xbox president Phil Spencer, rather than proper mentorship programs.

“It felt like Kelly called a group of his friends on Zoom calls,” Laura said. “It’s been inspiring to have these conversations, but that’s really all we’ve come to.”

Laura was one of several Future Class members who urged Keighley and Weir to improve the program.

“They fought for everything the class of 2023 got: the mixer of the class of the future, [them] Writer and recruiter Emma Kidwell said of past recruits in the future class: “They put us up in a hotel for two nights, to cover the trip… All I got back was the score from my former classmates. More recent recruits spoke highly of the mentorship opportunities.”

But 2023 also saw a high-profile feud between Future Class and Keighley, which members believe hastened the programme’s demise. In November, following increased media coverage of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, more than 70 members of the Future Movement signed an open letter requesting that a statement be read at the December ceremony expressing their support for Palestine and calling for a ceasefire. Although it received media attention and was posted to Discord’s Future Class, to which both Keighley and Weir belong, the message was ignored.

Shortly after, several Future Class members gave a virtual presentation to Kelly and Ware, acknowledging the importance of the program while expressing concerns about its “goals, structure, and sustainability.” They offered suggestions on how to improve both the program and the awards ceremony overall, such as including more female presenters, improving access options, and acknowledging the recent deluge of layoffs in the industry). Younis Rabie, one of the 2022 candidates, said Kelly was visibly frustrated during the call, while another member said he was “angry.”

Kelly and Weir did not respond to a request for comment.

Every Future Class member who spoke to The Guardian expressed varying levels of frustration with the program and its abrupt end. “It’s sad that we were part of something great, with great people, and it’s been left by the wayside,” said Steve Saylor, an accessibility consultant. “I’m not angry, I’m frustrated.” Many believe the program was disbanded because recruits pushed for a better future class. “You have influence, you have power, you can change, but since then,” Laura said [we pushed back] It was like: “This is a very big problem, and maybe there will be peace too.” “As a result of standing up for ourselves (the very thing we were recruited for), we were punished for doing the very thing they ostensibly celebrated us for,” Chico added.

A few members questioned the sponsorships associated with the program (Old Spice submitted a video highlighting one of the 2023 nominees) and whether they were being “tokenized” just to help the program make more money. (Showing a one-minute trailer at Keighley for the 2024 Summer Games reportedly costs $250,000, and sources say the game’s prizes are even more expensive.)

At some point, the Future Class page was removed from the Game Awards website, meaning there is no official archive of its members. “Not only did they stop the program, they also eliminated any way for us to claim the honor they provided,” Chico said.

“Marginalized people need accolades because it pushes them to at least be at the same starting level that you or I might have,” Kidwell said. “Now people can’t put that on their CV.” Negron was curious about the thought process behind it all, saying, “Don’t get some of the smartest activists in the industry together, treat us like crap, and then expect us to do nothing about it.”

Many believe the failure of the Future Class will serve as a compelling reminder that an alliance without the right support is simply an accomplishment. For some, all is not lost. “The camaraderie and community created by bringing nearly 200 developers and creatives from underrepresented communities together” was the best part of it all, said Eileen Gomez, founder of Midnight Hour. Meanwhile, the official Future Class discord is still ongoing – and more active now than it has been in the past year or so.