Game Trailers

Caveat: Involvement vs. Craft

Tim opens with an important distinction: while he has been deeply involved in trailer decisions as project lead or game director on his games, he has never personally storyboarded, edited, or assembled a trailer. The actual craft was handled by in-house teams or external production houses. He draws a sharp analogy: too many people in the game industry claim to have "made" things when really their name is just in the credits — no different from saying you made a meal because you ordered it at a restaurant.

Why Game Trailers Are Hard

The fundamental challenge is showing depth. It's easy to show flashy combat, explosions, and cool graphics. But how do you convey:

• Callbacks to earlier story events that create emotional investment
• Fun and diverse conversation options
• A well-designed UI
• Multiple quest solutions
• Nonlinearity

These features are nearly impossible to demonstrate in a short video, yet they're often what makes a game special. This tension between what's visually exciting and what's genuinely compelling is what makes trailer-making so difficult.

Core Principles

Show, Don't Tell

You're working in a visual medium with limited time. If you have a cool weapon, show it in action. If you have a funny character, show them saying something funny. If you have companions, show them picking locks, fighting alongside you, or unlocking gates. Don't just put up text saying "lots of companions."

The one exception: features like nonlinearity that are genuinely impossible to show visually. These can be mentioned briefly at the end — "Plus, our game is nonlinear" — just enough to reassure players who care about it.

Don't Reveal Everything

Tim has seen trailers that reveal the final boss and finds it baffling. Hold back on surprises meant to be earned through play. However, don't swing too far the other direction — you still need to show enough cool stuff to generate excitement. It's a balance, and publishers or production houses may pressure you to reveal more than you'd like.

Multiple Lengths, Not One Big Trailer

Don't try to make one trailer to rule them all. Instead, think in terms of standard lengths:

• 15 seconds — for ads on various platforms
• 30 seconds — for platforms with upper time limits
• 1 minute — for focused reveals
• Several minutes — for major convention announcements or big reveal moments

Each length serves a different purpose and venue. The rule of thumb: "If you can't show me your magic in a minute, you're not going to be able to show me in five minutes."

Different Purposes at Different Times

Trailers should be sequenced throughout a game's marketing campaign:

1. Existence trailer — Just let people know the game is being made. No gameplay needed, just awareness. ("We're working on Outer Worlds 2. We just want you to know it exists.")
2. About trailer — Show the setting, the kind of character you'll play, what you'll be doing
3. Cool stuff trailer — Show off exciting features, unique mechanics, your game's hook — the thing that makes it different from everything else
4. Informational trailer — Close to shipping: announce the release date, platforms, and where to buy it

Don't Forget Aspect Ratios

Beyond length, consider format. Most trailers are horizontal/landscape, but some platforms require portrait or even square aspect ratios. An area-of-effect explosion that looks amazing in widescreen — showing enemies flying back in the periphery — may not work at all in a vertical crop. Plan your shots accordingly.

The Outer Worlds and Buddha Jones

Tim's most detailed example comes from The Outer Worlds, where they hired production company Buddha Jones. What made them exceptional:

• They actually played the game extensively — one person played it repeatedly and came back with deep questions
• They spent two hours in a conference room doing deep dives on specific topics, particularly the game's humor and tone
• They understood that The Outer Worlds' humor had a specific tone and that it would be easy to accidentally make it look slapstick
• When they delivered rough cuts, they nailed the humor — Tim recalls turning to Leonard Boyarsky and saying "They get this"

The lesson: a good production house doesn't just make pretty videos. They invest time understanding what makes your game tick.

The Lauren Story

A charming anecdote: during The Outer Worlds, Tim started making an internal trailer himself. The next morning, producer Lauren had independently made one that was so professionally polished it made Tim's look like "something a 5-year-old would make." Her secret? She was a film studies major. The craft of trailer-making is a genuine skill — like any other discipline, domain expertise matters enormously.

Trailers Are Art and Science

Tim closes with the same philosophy he applies to game design itself: trailers are as much art as science. You can methodically list ingredients — show don't tell, multiple lengths, sequenced purposes — but the final product needs creative vision and artistic instinct to achieve the right vibe.

His minimum recommendation: study trailers for games you both liked playing AND liked the trailer for. Note their length, composition, features covered, and tone. If you loved a trailer but thought the game was bad, skip it — the trailer misled you, which means it failed at its actual job.