When to Launch a Game Trailer

As much as I wish a good trailer is all a game needs to market itself and be successful, in the vast majority of cases this is at best the bare minimum. Every game wishes it could duplicate the runaway success of a viral hit like Untitled Goose Game which hit the ground running (hit the ground waddling?), but games which spread like that are so few and far between it's naive to believe you'll be the next one and foolish to PLAN for it to be.

I've made trailers for games which were met with little to no fanfare when revealed. Every time it feels terrible to witness, especially when I think the game looks very appealing and well designed (and I hopefully did a good job on the trailer). A common thread in those situations is I come up empty when looking for any marketing happening around the release of the trailer more than a tweet on the game developer's social media. No articles or any other people talking about the game.

In contrast, when a trailer of mine is well received, written about in articles, and showing up in some circles of the internet, I usually assume there must've been something the marketing team did to help it out. Something which helped support the trailer so it could and make an impression and be seen by lots of people.

Never expect a trailer to spread like Untitled Goose Game's did

A frequent question I get is: "When should I release this trailer?" and in most cases I tell people I'm not the one to answer this question, but a person who does marketing strategy and builds marketing timelines is.

So for this post I enlisted the help of my friend Dana Trebella of Spoke and Wheel Strategy. I did a GDC talk with Dana about messaging and video, and she's done PR & marketing work for games like Neo Cab, Dicey Dungeons, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Holedown and Old Man's Journey. I wanted to know what a marketing team does to make sure a trailer makes an impact when it lands.

Hi Dana!

Assuming a game is well made, fun to play, and has pretty good differentiators. Why is it not enough to just upload a good trailer to YouTube and post it on social media?

Just sending it out on social media or to YouTube is making the assumption you’ve already got enough of a following that folks will just see anything you put out there without doing anything to boost visibility. Even for folks who have a previous following or success, this typically isn’t a good idea for several reasons. The first is that on any given day there are tons of things happening in the games world. New game announcements, new launches, new platform announcements etc. You are always competing for mindshare and attention against everyone else. By just putting your trailer out there with no additional thought, even if it’s a really really good trailer, you run the risk of it just getting lost in the shuffle.

Another key consideration is that it’s really crucial for every trailer you put out to be a part of a larger, integrated marketing plan. This means each trailer should be timed out thoughtfully and act as one very important piece of the pie. For example, are you using the trailer in other ways to reach out to press or interest streamers in your game? Are you utilizing it in a newsletter to reach people who’ve already expressed interest? Is it something you could use for submissions to events or digital festivals to have a better chance of getting in?

It’s also important to consider your “beats” (which essentially means times you want to announce/share something new about the game with the hopes of garnering additional attention) and to time your trailers strategically around those beats, which should also be part of your larger marketing plan. There’re SO many uses for a trailer but it’s really important to consider a trailer one piece of the pie, not the entire answer to marketing.

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Viral exceptions like Untitled Goose Game aside, what sort of marketing support does a game trailer need to make a decent to big splash when it gets released?

I think there’s no one-size-fits-all answer here and again, it’s contingent on where a trailer fits in to your larger marketing plan. Not to beat a dead horse but typically a trailer should be one touchpoint (and a very exciting one!) that gets people interested in your game and hopefully is a key to motivate them to some kind of action like buying your game, wishlisting, or motivating them to join your community on Twitter, Discord, etc. So with that in mind, a trailer should hopefully be centered around some kind of announcement and call to action for your game.

In terms of marketing support, you want to hit as many touchpoints as possible. For a trailer, the first and most important thing is to ensure that the messaging/video itself aligns with what you’re strategically trying to show for your game. But from there, there’s so many options with where and how to use it. To ensure as many eyeballs as possible, you’d typically want to time it in tandem with doing outreach to press, a social media/community push, updating your store page, and always include some kind of call to action.

Timing is important

What external factors can affect a game trailer’s performance? For example, timing in relation to a major gaming event, or something else out of the developer’s control.

There’re so many external factors that can influence this. The first is if the trailer is actually good and if the game actually looks cool and differentiated through the messaging and trailer itself. Creating a strong and strategic trailer are the factors that developers can most control. Assuming all of that is spot on, you always want to also be mindful of how many trailers you’ve put out there. Typically, you have an opportunity to get the most attention with an announcement of a game’s existence, and close to launch (so either the launch trailer or a date announcement). A lot of the trailers in between are more nice-to-have, but less likely in general to drum up as much attention, which is important to keep in mind when you’re choosing which content to show when.

Aside from that, timing around major events is a double edged sword. It can potentially work well because there’s a captive audience but competition can be really intense. So it’s important to be realistic with yourself about how much attention you think you can get in a sea of other games releasing trailers at the same time. An exception to this I would always say is a platform event, in which case it’s almost always good to be included despite other competition. It’s crucial to always be aware of the games events calendar and as much as you can, be cognizant of other games who may be making announcements around the same time as you. It’s always best to avoid those. Also, in today’s world, it’s best to avoid days with intense general news cycles as this occupies a lot of folk’s brainspace and social media space as well.

What factors should someone consider when deciding the date to release a game’s announce trailer?

Always check out, as best you can, what else is going on. Are there games events or platform events happening around the same time you want to announce? These are things to probably avoid unless you are in said platform event. Similarly, it’s important to consider major holidays and events. So for example, you probably don’t want to release your trailer near Halloween unless it’s for something thematically spooky and similarly, you’d want to avoid weeks like Thanksgiving where so many people are out of the office.

There’s also some considerations with trailers that are contingent upon the platform you’re releasing on. For example, mobile games can and should often have a much more condensed public-facing marketing timeline than a PC or console game so considering your platform is a must. Additionally, it’s important to consider any trailer as one strategic element in your larger marketing plan. When announcing your game’s existence you want to do your best to avoid major holidays, other releases etc. and when announcing something like your launch, at that point we’re assuming you’ve already built a community and people are excited so you want to strategically consider when you can best mobilize your audience and community to spread the word for you.

Find the right opportunities and pounce on them :3

Do you have any other bits of advice for how to give a game trailer the best possibility of success upon release?

I think my answer to this depends on which trailer it is, your announcement, release etc. Some general advice I can give is that trailers are a very powerful and important tool. They often really depict what your game is and showcase it in a way better way than words or screenshots ever could but consider it one very important tool in your larger marketing plan. Have a plan of attack for where and how to use the trailer in as many places to get it in front of as many people as possible.

Other than the tips outlined above, one simple tip that I find actually works (even though it can feel a bit weird) is to ask people to share it in your initial tweet or announcement. Simply asking often really boosts people’s sharing. Also, have a strong call to action in tandem with your trailer. For example, when announcing the game for the first time with your trailer, it’s always ideal to have your Steam page launch on the same day for wishlisting purposes. And make sure to share on as many places as strategically possible all at once (website, social, press, Steam etc.).

Thanks so much Dana for your insight!

Btw, Dana has adorable dogs ^_^

Are you having difficulty describing your game in an elegant and imaginative 1-2 line pitch which isn't something like: "A 2D roguevania platformer with crafting and 10 boss battles"?

Dana recently launched a la carte messaging consulting service where she helps you find out how to talk about your game, and she'll also evaluate your public facing marketing materials. By this way, this is NOT a sponsored endorsement. As someone who watches a lot of game trailers and reads game descriptions on YouTube, I know that games of all sizes and budgets would really benefit from the expertise of someone like Dana.

If you're unsure about what a good message does. Just imagine if your 1-2 line pitch for your game evoked your game and your game alone. In a sea of thousands upon thousands of games, this is an incredibly powerful thing to have so your game doesn't get lost by talking about features, genre descriptors etc. A game with a strong message will also help you make better trailers too, because you'll have something to align them to.