Video game announcements are sort of their own art form. Most companies just commission or create an FMV cinematic and call it a day, but the ones who put the work in to really blow us away with their reveals are the ones who tend to stand the test of time.
Whether it's a surprise sequel, an extended demo, or even just a much-anticipated remake, good video game announcements really drive sales. And, with 2020 fresh in our minds, it's time to take a look back and see what announcements really stuck out to us over the last decade.
10 Inside Reveal Trailer (E3 2014)
Maybe we're overestimating it, but the reveal of Inside by the team who made Limbo had the entire audience silent with anticipation. The games aren't huge open-world exploration titles and they certainly aren't AAA, but Playdead, the dev studio behind the title, sure know how to make atmospheric platformers.
Inside was an announcement that got people hyped simply because they had no idea what it was about, every new scene in the trailer brought up more questions than answers, and made us want to buy full release even more. And thankfully, we feel the final product lived up to the trailer, though oh boy is that ending a bit abrupt.
9 Joker Announced For Smash Ultimate (VGA's 2018)
It's a bit of an understatement to say that the Super Smash Bros franchise is popular. Creator Masahiro Sakurai is now one of the most respected developers in the business, and companies that have every worked with Nintendo are offering up their beloved characters left and right. And, with the fighters pass announcement for Smash Ultimate, fans didn't quite know what to expect.
The reveal of Persona 5's Joker making his way into Smash during the 2018 VGA's blew everyone's minds. Not only because this sort of announcement was usually saved for E3, but also because it let us know just how awesome the rest of the DLC fighters were going to be. In fact, it made such a lasting impression, that people were disappointed another one didn't happen at this year's VGA's.
8 Final Fantasy 7 Remake Announcement (E3 2015)
It might not seem like it's been that long, but the initial reveal for the FF7 remake was all the way back at E3 2015. Now, for those unfamiliar with the Final Fantasy franchise, FF7 might be one of the most beloved games of all time. The adventures of Cloud, Barrett, and Tifa, as they journey to stop Genova and by extension, Sephiroth is a confusing mess that fans couldn't get enough of back in the day. Seriously, the game was huge.
But, the graphics are incredibly dated by today's standards, so when a remake was announced, and the FMV looks incredible, fans collectively lost their marbles. Honestly, it's one of our favorite "streamers react" compilations to watch just to see how invested people are in the franchise.
7 Nier Automata Collaboration (E3 2015)
And, in that very same 2015 E3, another incredible game was announced. Until this point, the studio called Platinum Games were known as guns for hire. They made their own games sure, but companies would often hire them whenever they wanted an iteration of their franchise that focused on highly advanced and bombastic combat. In contrast, Yoko Taro was a director known for his astoundingly nihilistic stories like Drakengard and Nier.
But, the gameplay he was behind was less than stellar. So when Square Enix announced that the two would be working together to make a sequel for cult-classic game called Nier Automata, well we just sort of went wild.
6 Death Stranding Announcement (E3 2016)
The fall from grace of Hideo Kojima from Konami is one of the more publically known snafus in the gaming industry. The company kicked him out, then immediately went into the Pachinko business. But, Kojima picked himself right back on up from the canceled Silent Hills fiasco, went over to Sony, and started making Death Stranding under his own new studio called Kojima Productions. And, when the game was revealed at E3 2016, fans didn't quite know what they were looking at.
Walking Dead's Norman Reedus was holding an unborn baby on an abandoned beach, ghosts with umbilical cords were hunting humans, and there was a baby being used as a sonar device. But, this is all par for the course with Kojima, it's what people come to him for.
5 Gabe Newell And Sony Partnership For Portal 2 (E3 2010)
E3 is already a mixed bag of surprises for the audience, well, mostly. Ubisoft will always have a Just Dance section, Nintendo will try to innovate the way they announce games...again, and EA will talk about Fifa and sports cars for an hour and a half. But, nothing gets the crowd going more than a surprise guest. Remember how much we all went wild when Keanu Reeves showed up both in-game and out at the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer this year?
Well, there was a similarly mind-blowing surprise back at E3 2010 when Gabe Newell randomly came out on stage during Sony's conference. This was of course to announce Portal 2, but just this man, myth, and legend himself appearing on a console company's E3 stage had already put this moment into the history books.
4 The Witcher 2: Assassin Of Kings Promo Trailer (E3 2014)
Let's be honest, nows a better time to be a Witcher fan than ever. The original author and CD Projekt Red are friends again, the Netflix series is doing exceedingly well, and the third game has the most concurrent players it has ever had. In fact, it's so popular again that we're still making guides for the game that came out in 2014! And, one of the many things the series does well, are its trailers.
Each game has it's own cinematic trailer that blows our minds, but the one for Witcher 2 is by far the best. Letho taking on the elite guard of King Demavend to earn his title of Kingslayer is just so terrifying. It's perfect because before we even start the game, we know how scary our villain is.
3 Kingdom Hearts 3 Actual Reveal (E3 2013)
Kingdom Hearts is one of those franchises that sort of never feels real, you know? The game is all about crossing over Disney franchises with Final Fantasy ones within a completely unique story of its own. But, as fans latched on to the games and discovered how amazing they were, the need for a trifecta became stronger.
And, as the years went on and more spin-off or side story games released, fans were wondering if a KH3 was even in the cards anymore. The game with a big 3 on its box is actually the twelfth game in the franchise after all. Concepts were leaked for it back in 2005, but the actual game didn't get a reveal until 2013 and only actually released earlier this year.
2 No Man's Sky Promises (E3 2013)
No Man's Sky is quite the roller coaster ride of a game. The released product was nothing close to what was promised by Sean Murray or Hello Games, but, over time, it has become something close. The title was initially revealed at VGX 2013, and after garnering some groundswell, was then supported by Sony.
The trailers for the game were amazing, showing off all the aspects of exploration and variable gameplay that we could imagine. It was another "See that mountain? You can climb it" situation that Todd Howard has become so renowned for. Especially since the final product didn't quite match up to the sales pitch.
1 Assassin's Creed Revelations Cinematic (E3 2011)
Not many game franchises have the amount of die-hard fans like Assassin's Creed does. The games come out almost annually, and it seems like a real luck of the draw if each one will be good or not. But, when the trailer for Assassin's Creed: Revelations dropped in 2011, it didn't matter how the actual game played, that trailer was enough.
That music, that combat, and that scene all came together for one of our personal favorite game announcements of all time. Sadly, the game itself really just capitalized on the popularity of Ezio and didn't really advance the series, but we still had fun playing it.