While a video game is often remembered for its legacy of quality gameplay, those that succeed are often accompanied by equally memorable marketing. There's an art to crafting the perfect trailer, commercial, or advertisement that can capture the player base before release.
Looking back on a diverse history of marketing in the games industry, a few stand the test of time as being fan-favorites among the community. Reddit users collect some gaming advertisements that had players itching to pick up their controllers and jump into their favorite past titles.
Dead Island
2011's Dead Island launched just as advertised, having the player travel around a zombie-infesting tropical getaway overrun by deadly inhabitants. The cinematic trailer launched earlier that year had fans buzzing about it all the way up to release.
Redditor rather_be_a_hobbit writes "That commercial was amazing and likely accounted for 2/3 of the game's sales." It is a surprisingly emotional trailer given the game's wacky premise, depicting a father and daughter's family getaway-turned-nightmare as they scramble to stave off the zombie hoard.
Goat Simulator
Another fantastic example of marketing is the Goat Simulator Payday trailer, which was a DLC to the main game mirroring a new heist campaign. It's the same voiceovers, tone, and settings as a regular Payday story, but this time with... animals?
Like Redditor Zjackrum, many gamers agree that the parody was "commercial was equally epic" to those of the Payday franchise. Goat Simulator's ads were always popular among the community, as they didn't take themselves too seriously and always revealed new surprises for players.
Halo 3
Much of the Halo community regards its third installment to still be the best in the franchise, and its "Believe" ad in 2009 is certainly equal in quality. Rather than the usual cinematics or gameplay, it's a series of incredibly detailed battle scenes depicted entirely by figurines and set to the game's famous soundtrack.
Nostalgic fans like lalosfire assert that it's still one of "the best video game advertisements in my mind." If nothing else, it was one-of-a-kind at its time, choosing to rely solely on the art of the creative team and show off the more emotional features of Halo's best missions.
Gears Of War
Back in 2011, the original Gears of War dropped a cinematic trailer for its exclusive Xbox 360 launch, set to Gary Jules' rendition of Mad World. In it, protagonist Marcus Fenix rushes through a destroyed city, escaping various monsters along the way while piecing together the wreckage.
Redditor Hbit claims that it "sold me on an Xbox", chiefly because it used the actual in-game engine rather than pre-rendered cinematics. The visuals are actually pretty fast-paced, but the music that contrasts it hits a sentimental chord that not a lot of action-shooters at the time could pull off.
Ratchet and Clank
When the original Ratchet and Clank was released in 2022 for the Playstation 2, it was accompanied by a brilliant marketing campaign to show off its gameplay. In a series of mock home video ads, it showed "captured" footage of the kinds of bizarre and unusual weaponry offered in-game.
Those looking back on these ads like dumpdr agree that they "always loved the original Ratchet and Clank commercials", which landed brilliantly with its target audience of young teenagers. It was exactly the kind of off-meta, mischievous gameplay that sold original fans on the Ratchet and Clank fantasy.
Nintendo Switch
Typically, Nintendo has marketed its consoles to the younger child and teenage audiences, given that their games are pretty family-friendly. However, the Nintendo Switch turned the tables on its target market and began to show off a more mature range of gamers interested in its newest innovation.
Redditor MartyMcFlergenheimer highlights "the college students all scrambling to their seats", which was actually a more accurate representation of its popularity and appeal. The Nintendo Switch is perfect for young adults with a love for couch co-op, so it was great to see the company finally give these fans some love.
Skyrim
Any gamer is bound to know about Skyrim, Bethesda's all-time smash RPG, and the fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls series. Even before the game launched to critical acclaim, the caliber of its advertisements was stunning, especially its live-action version.
"I knew from the trailer it was going to be something special", writes danceswithronin. The live-action trailer was truly a piece of art to behold, with CGI fantasy effects rivaling that of movie quality and an epic cliffhanger that perfectly sets up the story.
Animal Crossing
Gamers who wanted a more relaxed, upbeat, and casual experience turned to Animal Crossing for the Gamecube in 2001, and its marketing perfectly captured its audience. Going back to simplicity, it features a few character puppets to show off some special gameplay features in a reality show-esqe parody.
Redditor byzantinebobby simply writes " I actually bought the original Animal Crossing because of these commercials". It's lighthearted, cute, and a great change of pace for many of the darker action games dropping for consoles during the same generation.
Bloodborne
FromSoftware is famous for its industry-changing combat, which they made the staple of their "Cut You Down" trailer in 2015. With a thrilling soundtrack interwoven with cinematic art and epic gameplay, it showed off all the best aspects of Bloodborne's weapons, enemies, and environment.
Fans like archaelleon even went so far as to say that "the commercial had me so hyped I bought it on day one." Sometimes, a trailer's only purpose is to generate pure thrill for fans, and this addition to its brilliant collection of advertisements did exactly that.
Resident Evil 7
Resident Evil 7 was a huge shift for the franchise, shifting the gameplay from a third-person, action-oriented view to a more intimate first-person perspective. So, rather than a mere trailer or commercial, Capcom released a fully playable teaser titled "Beginning Hour".
Redditor JW_BM admits that the "playable teaser sold me on their ability to create atmosphere and tension." This was a key factor in its success since the studio hoped to go back to its horror roots in a more claustrophobic setting, so allowing players to explore it first-hand paid off.