Talk Title: All Game Trailers Are Not Created Equal

Effective talk: Combat Accessibility in God Of War

Year of Talk: 2024

Video Link: All Game Trailers Are Not Created Equal

Difference Between Trailers:

• Might have a different production pipeline depending on size and purpose.

• Trailers can look different from the final trailer. It can cause players to have a different perspective on how the game might look at the end.

• Usually, film/cinematic trailers are made for already announced projects. It can be a lot of time and money to produce one.

• Game trailers are meant to build towards surprising moments.

How can game trailers be different?

• AAA games might target higher graphics or certain mechanics.

• First-party games might want to show what the console or engine is capable of.

• Indie games target showing off gameplay features or more about the game.

Goal of the trailer:

• When planning the trailer, make sure to plan who the target audience is.

• Visually show off what players might feel or do in-game.

• Understanding the timing of trailer releases with the overall marketing of the game.

Common types of trailers:

• Announcement Trailer

  • It will normally be the main trailer for the game in some time.

  • The trailer helps get the ball rolling in interest from players.

  • It is important to have at least a few seconds/frames showing off your game. This helps better show what will happen during gameplay.

• Gameplay Trailer

  • Help go a bit more in-depth with the mechanics.

  • Show off more of the game so people understand what to expect.

  • Take some time to plan out the trailer and what will be shown.

  • Adding a voice-over allows players to know what you consider the most important.

  • Helps post-launch as people can point to it and say how similar or not the game is.

• Release Date Trailer

  • Helps drive users to the Steam page and get people to wishlisting 

  • Keeps the game in their mind and is thinking about it.

• Launch Trailer

  • A relief for the players waiting for the game and introducing it to a wider audience.

  • Don't be afraid to reuse older clips. Not everyone will have seen each clip/trailer.

• Post Launch Trailer

  • If content is released post-launch, consider how a trailer can help boost people finding out.

Animated trailer (Why?):

• Allowing for the feeling of the game to be better described/shown.

• Shows off the beats of the game in a more concise fashion.

• Helps place an image of how the players see the game overall.

• But it can get expensive very quickly, so not everyone has the budget for it.

• Going for an animated trailer allows for a higher click-through rate and improved retention. 

• The presenter's experience was 3X more than other types of trailers with no animations.

Showcases:

• Areas where a wide audience goes to watch a bunch of trailers.

• Gives you access to a lot of new people who might not have seen your trailer.

• BUT different showcases might have different rules for what games they show and what can be shown in the trailers.

• Live reactions mean you get a more accurate account of what people think of your game/trailer.

• If you want to use old footage or a recently released trailer, you need to change it or add surprises. To get people who have already seen the last trailer interested.

Steam:

• Perfect place to show off multiple trailers in succession.

• Those seconds when the player loads in are important, as they decide whether they buy the game or not.

• Determine what information is important for the player and show that, nothing else.

• You can even talk about how successful the game was as part of the trailer. But this can be risky.

Additional tips:

• Create a document for information you think the players should find out through trailers, blogs, or in gameplay.

• Keep a folder/list of the clips used in previous trailers not to repeat the same stuff.