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Geoff Keighley ( ; born ) is a Canadian video game journalist and television presenter, best known for his role as the host of several
video game industry The video game industry is the tertiary industry, tertiary and quaternary industry, quaternary sectors of the entertainment industry that specialize in the video game development, development, marketing, distribution (marketing), distribution, ...
conferences and presentations. He is the executive producer and host of the Game Awards since its inception in 2014, having previously served as the executive producer of the Spike Video Game Awards. He also hosts and produces Summer Game Fest, and has hosted live events for trades fairs
Gamescom Gamescom (stylized as ''gamescom'') is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Gamescom is the world's largest gaming event, with 370,000 visitors and 1,037 exhibitors from 56 ...
and the now-defunct E3. He previously hosted the video game show '' GameTrailers TV'', and '' G4tv.com''. Keighley is also a
freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
whose work has appeared in ''
Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...
'' among other publications. His multi-media series ''The Final Hours,'' originally an article series published by
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
, features in-depth interviews and
behind-the-scenes https://www Googlefinans.co= In filmmaking, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK ( ...
with developers of popular
franchises Franchise may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Media franchise, a collection of related creative works, such as films, video games, books, etc., particularly in North American usage * "Franchise" (short story), a 1955 short story ...
like '' Portal'', ''
Mass Effect ''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the galaxy using technology left behind by Elder race, a ...
'' and ''
Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game series created by British video game developer Core Design. The franchise i ...
''.


Career


Early career

Keighley was born on June 24, 1978, and grew up in suburban Toronto. Both of Keighley's parents were executives at
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(and remain there as of 2022), which came with membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Through his parents, he gained an appreciation of the Oscars and awards shows in general. He and his younger brother were exposed to computers and video games at a young age, both becoming fans of the medium. As a teenager, Keighley started ''GameSlice'' in 1996, a website for game reviews and journalism. Keighley's foray into video game reporting and presentation had been through '' Cybermania '94'', the first video game awards show broadcast on television. Keighley was a teenager at the time, but, through his father's connections, was brought in to write the nomination announcements read by
William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
. The show was not considered successful, but from it, Keighley was inspired to develop some type of equivalent of the
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...
for video games in his career. Keighley entered into the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
in 1997 to obtain a business degree. During that time, he pitched to ''
GameStop GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer, headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas). The brand is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operated 3,203 stor ...
'' a series of long-form articles to delve into the development of some popular games, inspired by
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
's '' Behind the Music''. His first such work was "Blinded by Reality: The True Story Behind the Creation of ''Unreal''", covering the development of '' Unreal''. He had been able to get access to some of the behind the scenes at
Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American Video game developer, video game and software development, software developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney (game developer), Tim Sween ...
as he had been friends with Epic's co-founder Mark Rein during his youth in Toronto. Other such works Keighley wrote for GameSpot included deep dives into the development of '' Daikatana'' and '' Metal Gear Solid 2''. Through these reports, Keighley gained numerous contacts with development studios, including open access to
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. Following his business degree, Keighley entered into law school, inspired by a ''
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'' reporter suggesting he write in the crossover area of business and video games. Around this time in 2002, Keighley also began writing articles for ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' and ''
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'', and was also brought as a co-host of '' The Electric Playground'' alongside Tommy Tallarico by the show's creator Victor Lucas.


Television appearances

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...
brought on Keighley to host his own show, '' GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley'' in 2003. He was also involved in other video game-related projects on television. On
Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...
's G4 network, he appeared as the network's lead anchor for its E3 press conference coverage, interviewing CEOs from companies like
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
and
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
. For
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
he created the concept and produced (with LivePlanet) "Gears of War: Race to E3" and "Gears of War: Race to Launch", two specials that took viewers inside the development of the hit Xbox 360 game from
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
. And in 2007, the
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...
aired a five-hour documentary on releases including those of such companies as World of Wonder Productions, based on a treatment by Keighley, who also served as consulting producer. Geoff has also hosted and co-produced a number of video game launch specials for Spike TV, including "Madden NFL 08 Kickoff" featuring a performance by
Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...
and "Halo 3: Launched!" featuring a performance by
Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...
. He was also interviewed on what became a controversial
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
segment on ''
Mass Effect ''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the galaxy using technology left behind by Elder race, a ...
'', and was later praised by gamers online for being the only one on the show who had actually played the game. Keighley had also come under some negative perception by gamers in 2012 after he was presenting information about '' Halo 4'' while sitting among stands advertising
Mountain Dew Mountain Dew, stylized as Mtn Dew in some countries and colloquially known as Dew in some areas, is a soft drink brand owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage Bottler (company), bottlers Barney and A ...
and
Doritos Doritos () is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The concept for Doritos originated at Disneyland at a restaurant managed by Frito-Lay. In 1966, Doritos became the first ...
products. Several people critiqued this presentation as a sign of a lack of journalism standards, and the scenario became known as "Doritosgate" within the gaming community while Keighley was derogatorily called "Dorito Pope".
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...
's Robert Florence criticized Keighley's presentation and the state of game journalism at that time: "Geoff Keighley is often described as an industry leader. A games expert. He is one of the most prominent games journalists in the world. And there he sits, right there, beside a table of snacks. He will be sitting there forever, in our minds. That's what he is now. And in a sense, it is what he always was." The event led to Keighley reviewing his current career. Keighley was invited by the producers of Spike's Video Game Awards program to help with the programming from 2006 onward. In 2013, Spike changed the format of the show and rebranded the awards as the VGX Awards. To Keighley, the format became more commercial and promotional rather than a celebration of video game achievements, and coupled with the ridicule he faced from Doritosgate in 2012, he opted to leave the show.


The Game Awards and Summer Game Fest

Through 2014, he funded his own efforts to put together a new awards show, gaining the support of Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo as well as major publications and industry leaders. Keighley thus established the Game Awards which were first presented in December 2014, and which Keighley remains the primary host. In December 2016, Keighley was picked as a judge for the Viveport Developer Awards (VDAs). Keighley was a participant of E3, the annual video game trade show, since its start, and from E3 2017 to E3 2019, Keighley arranged and hosted the E3 Coliseum, a live-streaming event running over the course of E3 that brought in developers and publishers at E3 for interviews and other discussions. However, with the
Entertainment Software Association The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is the trade association of the video game industry in the United States. It was formed in April 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) and renamed on July 21, 2003. It is based in ...
making significant changes to the format of E3 2020 (prior to its cancellation due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
), Keighley stated he would not be organizing an E3 Coliseum event nor attending the show for the first time in 25 years. With E3's cancellation among other several other trade shows and events like
Gamescom Gamescom (stylized as ''gamescom'') is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Gamescom is the world's largest gaming event, with 370,000 visitors and 1,037 exhibitors from 56 ...
from the pandemic, Keighley worked with several major publishers and video game industry leaders to launch the first Summer Game Fest from May to August 2020. During this period, Keighley helped developers and publishers present game announcements and other presentations, along with
Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
and
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
to provide game demos during this period. Summer Game Fest was also held in 2021 and 2022 as a virtual event, and expanded to an in-person event in 2023.


Ongoing journalism

Keighley's has written a series of articles "The Final Hours", where he has in-depth access to the various studios near the end of a development period and write in depth about the process as the game is nearing completion. In more recent years, these articles are released as
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s. In a July 2008 interview on ''The Jace Hall Show'', Keighley spoke about the importance of this process, stating "There's such a lack of investigative journalism. I wish I had more time to do more, sort of, investigation. Really dig into some of these bigger issues, so I could look at like, the ' Red Ring of Death' problem. That's never really been properly reported about, like what really happens."


Other appearances

Keighley appeared as a holographic character in the game '' Death Stranding''. A mask of Geoff Keighley's face was also added to the video game '' Among Us''. In August 2021, Geoff Keighley was cast as Uncle Theodore in '' Muppets Haunted Mansion''. Keighley also had a brief cameo role in '' The Matrix Resurrections'', as a game awards presenter.


Works

* * * * *


References


External links


Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keighley, Geoff 1978 births Canadian male bloggers Living people Canadian people in the video game industry Video game critics The Game Awards Canadian documentary film producers Canadian television hosts