The Game Awards’ ‘Future Class’ Program Reportedly on Ice, Members Say It’s Been Quietly Erased

The Game Awards’ Future Class program, which once aimed to spotlight rising voices in the gaming industry, is reportedly being shelved. After skipping the initiative in 2024, new reports suggest it won’t be returning in 2025 either.

Adding to the uncertainty, all mentions of the program have quietly disappeared from The Game Awards’ official website.

The Game Awards quietly ends its Future Class program after five years | Image Credit: TGA

For those unfamiliar, Future Class was launched in 2020 by Geoff Keighley’s team as a way to spotlight “the bright, bold, and inclusive future of video games.” Each year, around 50 emerging talents, such as developers, writers, designers, and advocates, were chosen to represent diversity and innovation within the gaming space. It sounded like a promising platform for fresh voices, but over time, cracks began to show.

According to a Game Developer report, the end of the program was quietly confirmed on the Future Class Discord server. “Last year we completed our promised cycle of programming for the 2023 FC with our TGA mixer, and did not induct a new Future Class,” said organizer Emily Weir in a message. “At this time, we are not planning a new Future Class for this year and do not have any active programming plans.”

That statement confirmed what many already suspected: Future Class wasn’t just “on hold,” it was done for good. Some members found out only after another honoree, Emma Kidwell (known for Hindsight and Marvel’s Midnight Suns), posted on Bluesky that all mentions of Future Class had vanished from The Game Awards’ site. “Looks like all mention of the Future Class program (which started in 2020) has been wiped,” Kidwell wrote. “The only archive that proves it existed is through the Wayback Machine.”

As reported by Kotaku, things started going downhill in 2023 when Future Class members signed a letter urging The Game Awards to acknowledge the "humanitarian crisis in Gaza." The letter, written collectively, asked the event to use its massive platform to call for peace and recognize the industry’s responsibility in uplifting marginalized voices. Unfortunately, the message was ignored, and communication between Future Class members and Keighley reportedly broke down soon after.

One anonymous honoree told Wired they felt “tokenized,” saying Keighley’s refusal to address their concerns directly made the entire experience feel hollow. Another added that the show’s leadership only reached out after the 2023 ceremony, and even then, offered little more than polite distance.

Beyond the political tension, many alumni were disappointed by how the program actually functioned. While it promised mentorship and career opportunities, several former members told Game Developer that there was little follow-through. They received free tickets to the 2024 event and some networking perks but that was it.

Instead of inducting a new class, Keighley introduced a Game Changer Award, honoring Tencent’s Amir Satvat for his efforts to track industry layoffs, a move many saw as a quiet replacement for Future Class.

Reactions from past honorees have been overwhelmingly disappointed. “I felt disrespected,” said Kidwell. “Accolades are important to marginalized folks. Not being able to access even an archived post kinda sucks. It’s a bad look to erase five years of ‘we’re uplifting incredible devs’ to suddenly ‘don’t look, don’t look.’”

2022 alum Malek Teffaha told Game Developer that the news “honestly hurt,” adding, “I thought it was a platform to bridge gaps in the industry, not just a publicity gesture.”

The Game Awards 2025 will take place on December 11, but whether Future Class will make any kind of return remains to be seen.