The history (and secrets) of The Game Awards (Oli Welsh)
The history (and secrets) of The Game Awards (Oli Welsh)  
Podcast: Post Games
Published On: Mon Dec 08 2025
Description: Visit patreon.com/postgames to get bonus segments, early access, and exclusive monthly episodes like "The birth of Pokémon: 30 years ago, a young game critic imagined the biggest franchise on the planet" for $5Visit post.games to get full episodes for free, including links to all games and stories referenced in today's showUPDATESBefore we get to this week’s episode, I have two important updates!Post Games mailbag returns: I’m collecting listener voice notes for my final mailbag episode of 2025. I’d love questions reflecting on 2025 or looking forward to 2026. But you’re welcome to ask anything related to games! Here’s how to email me audio using a smartphone and any voice notes app.The First Official Post Games Movie Screening: This Friday, I’ll be hosting a screening of Mortal Kombat (1995) at The Frida in Santa Ana, CA. I’ll have some rare Post Games shirts and hats on sale. I’d love to see you there, so if you come, please say hello!THIS WEEK ON POST GAMESThe Game Awards isn’t the Oscars. It’s not the Tonys. If we’re being generous, it shares the same pop cultural status as the modern MTV Music Video Awards. But even if the show is a bit embarrassing and largely serves as an advertisement for future games, it matters.It matters to big game publishers and tiny developers alike. All nominees stand to not only get a healthy dose of public praise, but a burst of press and a spike in sales. Especially if they win.With more games released in 2025 than in any other year, awareness is invaluable. The Game Awards claimed a 2024 audience of 154 million streams, which would mean more people watched it than the Super Bowl. Even if the audience is actually half that number, then The Game Awards remains one of the most widely seen annual broadcasts in the world.So this week on Post Games, we take The Game Awards seriously. My guest is the only year-round Game Awards beat reporter and analyst, Polyon’s Oli Welsh.Act 1: The history of The Game AwardsAct 2: How The Game Awards actually workPatreon bonus: What The Game Awards got right… and very wrongAct 3: The news of the weekSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.