Game Trailers are a vital asset for advertising a game: they can be an excellent tool to create understanding for a game and give viewers an impression of gameplay, mood and setting of a game. They can also attract attention on social media and on store fronts – but to unleash a trailer’s full potential, it has to be very well thought through.

How to grab the viewers’ attention right from the start? How to make sure that you get your message across? And what role do sound and music play in a game trailer? Our expert panel will guide indie devs through the most important questions and around the most common pitfalls in the process of concepting and creating a game trailer.

Our top learnings:

• Trailers for the audience should not be made until the majority of the visual elements are completed so that the most impressive gameplay can be shown. But sometimes it can be useful to cut a trailer with pre alpha footage to give possible publishers the best possible impression of the game.
   

• Viewers have a short attention span, so a trailer should already be convincing in the first 10, maximum 30 seconds. Show meaningful gameplay as soon as possible and don't waste time on a long intro with black screens or studio logos.
   

• The boldness of brevity is helpful! After a short establishing shot, a trailer should directly show the unique selling point of the game. Too much similar content makes the trailer too long and in the worst case boring.
   

• Keep it simple in the end! Address the audience with a clear call to action instead of redirecting to many social media accounts. For example, ask them to add your game to their Steam wishlist.
   

• Using royalty-free music is an easy way to cut costs. But the expertise of a sound designer will help you make your game unique - and that's what you want!
   

If you want even more tips and elobarations from our two experts, you can watch the recording of this panel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzIHh8ETEF8

About Gamecity XP Boost:

The games industry is ever changing, inspiring new trends and opportunities. That means there is always room for learning something new and our XP Boost series is the perfect place to widen your horizons. In this event series we want to cover all sorts of topics and trends that spark the interests of indie devs, no matter how long they have been in the industry.

Find the past events here: https://www.gamecity-hamburg.de/events/#XP_Boost