Snow Runner's Masterful Trailer Campaign
The Snow Runner trailer campaign is an entertaining and informative campaign with a lot of variety which smartly gives serves their audience's needs from beginning to end. This is especially impressive considering as of the writing of this post they've released 11 trailers!!! Even a lot of AAA games struggle to make consistently interesting trailers which flesh out the game without repeating themselves too much.
A poorly planned game trailer campaign runs the risk of killing hype or feeling odd. You never want to release a new trailer which makes people wonder why you released a new trailer. A new trailer should feel like the exact thing the audience wanted to see at that time (or didn't know they wanted). I'm going to walk through Snow Runner's trailer campaign, and break down what each trailer does, and why it works.
Reveal Trailer
Aug 21, 2019
920,000 views
Runtime: 0:51
Key messages of this trailer:
This is a sequel to the game Mud Runner
Same premise in new environments
New vehicles
Notably, this is the only trailer which has the subtitle: "A Mud Runner Game." It probably became unnecessary to specify in future trailers after people understood this to be a sequel. Had this reveal come out without the subtitle, people might've wondered if this was a rip off game. By tying it to the previous game, the audience can accurately understand it to be a sequel.
This trailer is light on text, but it shows a lot of gameplay of different vehicles riding through treacherous terrain, and climaxes with a dramatic crash where cargo falls off a big rig. This creates a simple but fun dramatic arc for the trailer which finishes with a great climax. Simple is good for an announce trailer, because it's just there to get the ball rolling via word of mouth, articles, social media, and to start building wishlists (though at the time, the Epic Games Store did not have wishlist capabilities).
Trailer Takeaway: New Mud Runner game, but in snow.
Release Date Trailer
February 18, 2020
1.3 million views
Runtime: 1:30
Key messages of this trailer:
Next-gen game
Big open world environments
Terrain simulation
Lots of missions
Customization
Single or Co-op Multiplayer
The announce trailer provided the broadest view of what the game is. This one builds upon the reveal by diving a little bit deeper with a feature list. I typically caution people to not use feature lists in their game trailers, but since this is a sequel it makes sense to dive into this sort of detail because the fans want to know what is the same and what is different. As far as I know, the basics are the same as Mud Runner, but bigger and there is now co-op multiplayer. The trailer also finishes off with the nice tagline: "Conquer the Wilderness."
Trailer Takeaways: Snow Runner is a next-gen game with lots of content and multiplayer.
Conquer the Wilderness Trailer
February 25, 2020
2.6 million views
Runtime: 2:10
Key message of this trailer:
This is what missions in Snow Runner looks like
The previous trailer was an overview of the content, and this is a dive a little bit deeper into what playing the game looks like. You can already see how these trailer build upon each other even when we're only three trailers into the campaign. This trailer shows a variety of environments, and it shows different missions to accomplish in them.
I haven't played Snow Runner, but I'm assuming the text in this trailer is custom made for the trailer to be easy to read, but made to look somewhat like in-game mission prompts. At the end of the trailer there's a wide shot which shows a variety of missions spread across the world. Each trailer seems to answer lingering questions left by the one before.
Trailer Takeaway: In Snow Runner there are a variety of missions in different environments; this is the broad look at what doing one of those missions looks like.
Gameplay Overview Trailer
March 17, 2020
2.8 million views
Runtime: 4:09
Key messages of this trailer:
Snow Runner is a next-gen off road experience with physics simulation in a big sandbox world (they literally say this)
You're a trucker going on missions to deliver things
Overcoming obstacles is affected by the dynamic physics system.
There are three regions (the largest ever in the series) which you can travel through freely
There are a variety of mission types which you solve as you want
Choose the right vehicle for each job from 40 customizable real life vehicles
Co-operative multiplayer
New content will come post-release along with mods
This is by far the longest trailer with an extended look at the gameplay. Something else to note here are how the name of each of these trailer sets up the right expectations for what you will see. "Overview" generally indicates a longer video with detailed narration.
Again, we're diving even deeper into the gameplay with explanations of each of the pillars of the game's design, and why they're interesting. This overview builds off of previous trailer's bullet points, and explains why they matter or how they fit into the player experience.
For example:
Trailer 3: Dynamic physics systems Trailer 4: The physics systems affect the challenge
Trailer 3: Lots of vehicles Trailer 4: Your choice of vehicle will affect your mission success
Trailer Takeaways: Snow Runner is a big off road open world game for you to explore as you want using the tools you choose, and you'll need them in order to overcome the challenges.
Explore, Gear Up, Achieve Trailer
March 26, 2020
2.5 million views
Runtime: 3:28
Key messages of this trailer:
The open world is 3X larger than Mud Runner
The maps are packed with missions and secrets
How you accomplish missions are completely up to you
Pick the right vehicles for the job
Pick the right gear for each vehicle
You'll find hidden vehicles and upgrades or buy equipment
As you play, you open up the world and create infrastructure
The ultimate missions require navigating through the whole world of the game
This trailer came out just a little over a week later. Not as long as the overview, but still longer than a hype trailer. This trailer gets more detailed in its description, and it shows much more of the game's interface like its map screens and mission prompts. The first trailers abstracted these elements for the sake of readability, but these longer trailers show the "real" gameplay. This trailer is a more granular look at the vehicle customization, and shows the the progression and upgrade system to give the audience a taste of how they'll build a bigger and better fleet all the way down to the engine and suspension parts.
The final point indicating the hardest missions require everything coming together is a great way to finish off the trailer because it presents a challenge to the player. It says that it's not just a bunch of missions; it says you're performing the missions towards a greater goal which will test everything you learned up to that point. I find this a much more compelling message than if it were to say "TONS OF MISSIONS!" which feels more like a desperate attempt to reassure the audience the game has lots of content.
Season Pass & Premium Edition Trailer
April 7, 2020
2.3 million views
Runtime: 2:56
Key messages of this trailer:
There will be more content coming out after release
New maps, new vehicles and missions
Some content will be paid, but some will also be FREE!
A little over a week later they put out this trailer to walk through post-release content. A nice thing to note is how the narration in this trailer starts with: "Greetings, Runners" which is a nice way of not only addressing the community, but making them feel like one. If the community didn't already use this term to describe themselves, you can bet they probably did after this.
After walking through all the main content of the game, they moved onto the post-release content. Of the trailers this is the only one which feels a bit sales-y because it's asking people who haven't played the game to think about spending even more money on the game after its release. But it does a good job of presenting the content, and softens the blow a bit by indicating there will be free updates.
Trailer Takeaway: More free and paid content to come after release.
United We Drive Trailer
April 16, 2020 4.4 million views Runtime: 1:42
Key message of this trailer:
Truckers are people whose work profoundly affects the world
After all the deep dives into content came my favorite of the Snow Runner trailers which I find genuinely affecting even if it's made as a parody of Death Stranding'strailers (if you're not familiar, it's a high profile game about delivering things and connecting people. I have no idea if this trailer would've happened if not for the global pandemic, but even with its parodic framing it feels like they're shining a light onto truckers, and saying even though this is just a video game, there are real people in the world driving trucks and delivering things so the world can keep running.
I think you could accuse this trailer of being manipulative for the sake of selling a product, but you could also see it as genuine. I think it's so well done I can't help but enjoy it and believe there are people making this game who feel a responsibility to represent their niche. I think they started as a parody, but their sincerity took them to new heights. It's also heartwarming to read some of the comments from truck driver families who enjoyed the trailer because it touched them.
Trailer Takeaway: Truckers, we salute you. Thank you.
Launch Trailer
April 28, 2020
2.6 million views
Runtime: 1:31
Key messages of this trailer:
Off road experience
Open world
Hostile environments
Challenging missions
Customization
Physics systems
Solo or co-op
With this trailer the game is finally out, so it's time for the launch trailer to broadly recap everything which was said throughout the campaign in an exciting montage. There's nothing new here, and you can even see they've re-used a lot of footage from previous trailers, but the goal here is to just say the game is out, so get hyped!
Trailer Takeaway: Here's a rundown of the game's features, and it's out now!
Tips Trailer
May 8, 2020 689,000 views Runtime: 4:31
After the game's release they put out a trailer with tips for people playing the game. Just like the game has post-release content, the team making trailers continue to serve their audience's needs. This trailer even foregoes the previous voiceover narrator in favor of the game's creative director, which adds a nice personal touch.
I'm sure there are tons of Snow Runner tip videos being made by YouTubers, but they took it upon themselves to serve their audience's needs. Knowing your community's wants and needs is the best way to make stuff which caters to them, and makes them happy!
Mods Trailer
May 13, 2020 545,000 views Runtime: 1:24
As of the writing of this post this is the last of the content trailers (I'm sure there will be more to support the season pass) with the introduction of user made modifications to the game. Just like the tips video, this is supporting existing players while showing potentially new players how much content is available to play with in the game.
Accolades Trailer
May 19, 2020 140,000 views Runtime: 1:23
Accolades trailers aren't usually that interesting to watch as a trailer audience, but if you can take a victory lap then you might as well. Some new players might be curious after seeing such praise, and someone already enjoying Snow Runner will probably watch this and feel good about their purchase.
This trailer also re-uses the voiceover from the Death Stranding parody trailer which doesn't feel as affecting here because it's juxtaposed with all the critical reviews, but it works fine to bookend the trailer.
Something else to note are the strong key art and thumbnails for the trailers!
I didn't fully watch this campaign until I wrote this post, but I appreciate it even more now that I've seen precisely what it did every step of the way. This is a textbook example of serving the audience's needs all the way down the marketing funnel.
To recap:
Reveal Trailer established the premise, and that it's a sequel
Release Date Trailer gave a high level view of the game
Conquer the Wilderness Trailer gave a ground level view of a mission
Gameplay Overview Trailer walked through the gameplay point by point
Explore, Gear Up, Retrieve Trailer showed the choices you need to make within a mission
Season Pass & Premium Edition Trailer showed post-release content
United We Drive Trailer made an emotional salute to truckers
Launch Trailer hyped up the release
Tips trailer helped out new players with some tips
Mod trailer showed new players how to use mods
Accolades trailer took a victory lap
Now THAT'S a game trailer campaign. Despite re-using some game capture across multiple trailers, the purpose and feel of each trailer is its own, and in service of their audience's needs every step of the way. Obviously not all games have as much content to support this sort of campaign, but I hope this helps you see how trailers can be used to attract an audience, and answer their questions in an entertaining way from announcement to release (and beyond!)
This campaign is extremely planned out, especially considering how many of the trailers released within a week of each other. I've never even played any of these sorts of simulation games, but in watching all of these trailers in this order I found it difficult to not get pulled in and want to play the game. Kudos to whomever is responsible for this; I learned a lot which I hope to pass onto my future projects!
