Why Indie Game Trailers Shouldn't Take Inspiration From AAA Games

If you're an indie game developer or trailer maker, I implore you to think twice before using a AAA games as inspiration for your trailers.

On one hand, it sounds like a good idea, right? AAA games have huge marketing budgets, so it stands to reason they have talented professional editors making their trailers. Shouldn't you want to learn from the best? First of all, big budget games don't always use professional trailer editors. For example, this Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade PC trailer feels incredibly sloppy and random.

I'd like to think I have a pretty good eye for when a trailer is done by someone with more or less experience, and I've seen trailers for some AAA games which are very poorly done. Usually I picture some unfortunate soul (whose primary job is NOT video editing) being roped into making a trailer.

I don’t know the reason, but a LOT of Japanese AAA game trailers are not really up to par.

But, even if you're taking inspiration from game trailers made by the best game trailer studios, I STILL think it's not the best place to start for indies.'

The main reason is AAA game production values earn them a LOT of leeway when it comes to trailers. I'm not a frame rate counting, texture resolution measuring hardcore PC gamer, but I'm always very impressed with the latest in AAA graphics, and I think the same goes for your average gamer. High fidelity photorealistic or stylized graphics only achievable with a team of hundreds of people are great eye candy. Because of this, they can afford to have lengthy introductions (or entire trailers) with no "real" gameplay.

For example, a lot of AAA game trailers start with slow camera movements through very pretty environments. This wouldn't look nearly as impressive even if some of the best indie games of all time tried it. I don’t say this to dunk on indie games; so many of them have truly stellar and eye-catching art direction that I think often put AAA games to shame, but it's just not the same as a game which pushes the latest PC graphics cards to its limits.

There are some actors I would eagerly listen to reciting a dictionary such as: Morgan Freeman, Kathleen Turner, Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Cate Blanchett, or Stephen Fry. Most of us don't possess the voice quality or acting skill of people like this, so we cannot present ourselves in the same way. This is just like how I think most indie games can't expect to hold and audience's attention the same way AAA game trailers do.

I’d listen to Alan Rickman read the dictionary too. How many people’s interviews get retitled “Unintentional ASMR”?
What I’m saying is, Alan Rickman is the vocal embodiment of the leg up AAA game trailers have over indies.

I often use stand up comics as an analogy for people making game trailers. So here's how they break down:

An inexperienced indie is like the unknown person at an open mic; they have to be funny AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to hold anyone's attention. Anything less, people will be quick to stop paying attention. For game trailers, that means showing gameplay as soon as possible. At the very least, indicate the genre in the first 5-10 seconds before moving onto serious world building or plot development. Just ONE shot indicating the game genre will earn you some tolerance for lore dumps.

A AAA game with very expensive production values is like a comic who is either INCREDIBLY ATTRACTIVE or has the most beautiful voice you could possibly imagine. It'll take longer for people to care if they're not very funny (but there are still limits). They also might have something like a ton of impressive stage lighting and additional visuals to make the presentation more compelling. What that means for trailers is like a great narrator, well made motion graphics, tight editing, expensive trailer music, etc.

Lastly, an indie or AAA game developer with a proven track record of quality is like a headliner stand up comic people are excited to see as soon as they know who is performing. They have the most leeway because they have fans eager to laugh, so even if something isn't terribly funny they'll probably find a way to believe it is just because of the comic's track record.

This is a long way of saying AAA game trailers play on a different field. They can be very successful releasing all CG trailers with no gameplay or gameplay trailers whose editing is only okay, or whose story is confusing and scattershot. Again, not saying a lot or even most AAA game trailers are slumming it in their editing and production; most are incredibly well edited, narrated, scored, and sound mixed, with top notch motion graphics.

But they're so much harder to use as inspiration simply because they have SUCH a leg up as far eye candy and production value. Comparatively, AAA games' graphics are a massive hook that most indies can't compete with (excluding indies, good graphics in AAA games are often not enough of a hook but that's for a different article). You're not Morgan Freeman reading the dictionary. If you're an indie, you need the substance of what you're saying to be more interesting to keep people on the hook.

If your empty environment shots look like this, people are gonna get a lot less antsy for “real gameplay’ shots (but only to a point)

Now, it's not terribly useful for me to just say: "Stop copying AAA game trailers if you're an indie," but the answer of course is to take inspiration from well made indie game trailers.

Broadly, the quality of indie game trailers is understandably much more inconsistent because of lower budgets, so it's more difficult to know which ones to copy. Fortunately for you, I regularly keep playlists of game trailers I like! They have a mix of AAA and indie game trailers so within each playlist you'll have to sort through and find one similar in scope, genre, or feel to your game, but it's a good place to start!

This is my first ever playlist of favorite game trailers before I started making yearly lists. Here is my list from 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. I add new trailers to these lists all the time, so keep an eye out for fresh inspiration (and I link new good game trailers in my weekly newsletter).

If you're still having trouble knowing where to take inspiration, brush up on this article I wrote about How to Copy a Game Trailer.

Just whatever you do, make sure at least one shot in the first 5-10 seconds has strong game genre indicators before you start diving into backstory and lore. Trust me when I say it'll make your game trailers that much more hooky and effective.

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