What is the future of The Game Awards' Future Class program?
This question has been on the minds of industry observers, who, according to second year in a rownoted that the Geoff Keighley-led organization has not announced a new group of industry professionals who “represent a bright, bold and inclusive future for video games.” The game developer can now confirm that showrunners are not planning a new Future class for 2025, nor are they planning any programs for future or past honorees.
This information was provided to Future Class alumni on a Discord server created to host networking and mentoring opportunities within the program. Previous honorees (some of whom wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution) told Game Developer that this update was the only communication they had received from the show's management over the past year.
“Last year we completed our promised programming cycle for the 2023 FC through our TGA mixer and did not introduce a new Future class,” Future Class organizer Emily Weir said. “We are not currently planning a new Future Class for this year and do not have any active programming plans for the Future Class.”
Weir said the organization will maintain a Discord server online so alumni can stay in touch with each other, but said she and Kaylee do not actively monitor the server.
Game Awards also removed Future Class page on their websiteexcluding the final list of previous winners. 2023 cohort not named on the program's Medium page (perhaps this is an oversight, the organizers have updated Game Awards Future Class Steam Curator Page with games from the latest class).
Former Future Class award winners say they feel 'neglected'
Game author and 2023 award winner (and former Game Developer contributor) Emma Kidwell explained to Game Developer that she had tagged Weir and Kaylee in messages multiple times this year asking for program updates, but had received no response. “I felt disrespected by the person who spoke to Emily in person,” she said. “It makes it seem insincere and makes it seem like they want us to go away quietly. I know not everyone on the Future Class Discord feels this way, but what do they expect from a group of aggrieved marginalized people?”
Kidwell was one of the honorees in the spotlight in that year's broadcast. Fellow writer and group member Anna Webster agreed, saying she wanted the organization to be “upfront” about the state of the program. She said the 2024 networking event before that year's awards ceremony now feels like a “last hurray.”
Malek Teffaha, who was recognized by the group in 2022, told Game Developer that the news “honestly hurt.” “I, among others, thought that the Future Class program was not just a platform for celebration, but a means of bridging the gap between industry workers and leaders and helping shape the future of the games industry.”
“I’m disappointed, but not surprised,” said J.C. Lau, another member of the Class of 2022. When asked if she felt supported by the organization after organizers said they would determine the program's “next steps” after the 2024 show, she responded: “How could they support us last year when they literally had no contact with us at all?”
Those sentiments were echoed by other anonymous former award winners who spoke to Game Developer, one of whom called Weir's statement “minimal and evasive.”
Between 2023 and 2024, the Game Awards faced internal pressure from Future Class members on two fronts. The honorees called on Kaylee to use the show as an opportunity to call for a ceasefire as Israel launched an invasion of the Gaza Strip following Hamas attacks on October 7 (a UN commission described the invasion as “genocidal” in the October 2025 report). Keighley made no statements during the broadcast.
In 2024 Laureates lobbied The Game Awards to improve support for Future Class members following their nomination, saying they were not provided with adequate accommodation at the ceremony and there was little support for graduates after the spotlight faded. Sources told Game Developer in 2024 that Keighley and Weir seemed receptive to feedback and offered additional networking opportunities.
The organization did not resume these events in 2025.
“I think this is incredibly stupid [Keighley] gather the brightest people in our industry, do only the bare minimum and expect us not to say anything about it,” said a second anonymous Future Class alumnus.
They accused the organization of using marginalized people for a “pat on the back.”
The game developer has reached out to The Game Awards for comment on this story and will post an update once the organization responds.
Update November 6: Malek Teffah's correct surname has been added to this story.
