The Game Awards 2021

This past week was The Game Awards for 2021, which featured a lot of new game reveals as well as updates on previously announced ones. Two trailers I worked on which debuted in the show were for Tunic (This link is to an extended cut which showed later at an ID@Xbox event) and Among Us VR! Big thanks to the folks at Finji and Innersloth for having me aboard for the ride :D

The Game Awards was over three hours long which meant there were a LOT of trailers. Here are some scattered thoughts and highlights. There were a handful of trailers which really stood out. Planet of Lana continues to look excellent and this one-take trailer has a masterfully directed dramatic arc; I think I want to make a video discussing its great command over the audience's eye. 

Have a Nice Death debuted with a super charming animated story intro which did a great job establishing the premise and then followed up with very stylish action platforming gameplay. 

Somerville continues to impress with its fourth teaser trailer. Even though each trailer has shown just a little bit more than the previous, I feel like we're starting to get diminishing returns on them because there's still no release date and each trailer still feels more like a movie than gameplay. I think the next trailer has to either be the release date or launch in order to maintain the hype. 

That, as they say, escalated quickly.

The gameplay trailer for Hellblade II was very impressive. There were so many "cinematic" trailers during the show that I couldn't fault anyone for thinking this was a pre-rendered cinematic trailer. But it turns out it was "real gameplay" which I didn't figure out until the halfway point or so, but by then I was already starting to lose interest. 

I think this trailer could've been even more successful if it started by indicating the entire thing was real gameplay. That way, the audience would probably watch it more closely, trying to parse what moments are player controlled. Since it looked like it was all "cinematic," my brain somewhat disengaged because it wasn't interested in seeing more non-gameplay footage and by the time I realized it was actual gameplay, it was an uphill battle to regain my interest. 

This reminds me of this Penn & Teller act which they always start by saying "The next trick is done with just a piece of thread." In this Vanity Fair article they explained why they begin the trick that way:

"We say that ahead of time because what we discovered was an audience accustomed to elaborate mechanical and electronic modes of propulsion was inclined to think the movement of this red ball was just some sort of remote-control thing. Whereas magicians who knew how the trick was done appreciated the fact that at every moment, I was disproving the possibility of the thread that they knew was there. So by letting the audience in on the fact that it was done by means of a thread, we created more amazement."

By the same token, without knowing in advance that the Hellblade 2 is realtime gameplay, we as the audience are likely to be assuming it's all smoke and mirrors made for this big show; this completely undermines how technically impressive it is. And in a sea of trailers which are not created in realtime, this would've really stood out. But because of the way it was presented, at best, gamers found out it was realtime capture afterwards by reading news articles.

Sure, looks nice. Oh wait, it's REALTIME GAMEPLAY!? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO!?

One more overarching thought I took away from the show, is that a lot of the game trailers could've done more with less. I very rarely watch a trailer and think: "Hmm, this needs to be longer." Or "Hmm, this needs more voiceover and title cards." The Hellblade 2 trailer featured a voiceover which felt superfluous. I didn't really learn anything about the character, and I pretty much forgot what was said as soon as it was over. I think the scene could've been more suspenseful had the voiceover not been there to explain things and move us from the moment.

It makes sense for all game trailers to start with "What am I going to put into this?" But somewhere during the process you need to consider: "What am I going to take out?" I think things like voiceover, title cards, HUD/UI elements and pretty much anything in any shot should be up for grabs. Voiceover and title cards especially might've been added initially to flesh out the world, but in many ways they can end up limiting the imagination of the audience. I think trailers are at their best where they present lots of interesting stuff, and then let the imagination run wild, and the less the trailer maker inserts their voice, the more you give room for this to happen. 

How do you make your game trailer stand out? It starts with art and design.

I also wanted to give a shout out to Thirsty Suitors which easily stood out in a sea of games with explosions and guns. The three line message of: "Battle your exes, disappoint your parents, find yourself" is top notch. This game said more in three lines than other trailers said in entire trailer-spanning voiceovers. This feels like the entire arc of the game, and the unique visuals make it very hard to forget. Again, goes to show that a game's design can do more to make something stand out than even the most well executed trailer. Put the two together, and it can really make a strong impression!