15 of Our Favorite Videos, Including One Bad One
We’ve been lucky enough to work with a lot of talented developers over the past fifteen years and it’s been a thrill to concept and create some pretty memorable trailers and videos together. Our amazing team of editors alongside incredible animation and cinematic studios have crafted some special things together and here are fifteen that stood out when looking back.
1 - Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number - Dial Tone Trailer
Relatively early on in our existence, this was a hard lesson footage capture for a game that was still in development. A million things can go wrong in the scene you wanted to capture but this had to be perfect because the Carpenter Brut track goes too hard for anything less. The dual-wielding bear scene at the 25-second mark was probably one of a hundred takes to get just right.
And, to our knowledge, this is the only game we’ve ever published that has had a fan trailer created scene for scene inside of Team Fortress 2. Damn that's hot.
2 - Serious Sam for Palm OS Unboxing
This is obviously terrible but also says a lot about Devolver Digital. What if you’ve had a few and find a long forgotten Serious Sam Palm OS game? You gotta unbox it and make a video in iMovie because you have no real talent in any adult video editing software. Just have fun and hope that when you wake up the next day what you posted didn’t ruin the company.
3 - Dropsy - Launch Trailer [Sing-A-Long Edition]
Not only is Jay Tholen an incredible game developer, but he's also an amazing singer, and composer. The track “Eternal Hug” in this trailer was stuck in our heads for weeks. This surprisingly poignant game about doling out damp hugs still warms our hearts to this day.
4 - A Fistful of Gun - The Devil's Broadside (Launch Trailer)
Crafted by the team at Imagos Films, all we gave them was ‘a weird yet epic western’ and they delivered a cinematic / musical masterpiece. The fact that at 1:35 until the end is just one single came take is impeccable.
5 - APE OUT - Playable Trailer
Not only can you watch this trailer on YouTube, but you can also PLAY it on Steam. The idea of a playable trailer was only possible due to the incredible work from the developers and the complex procedural music system that brought it all together.
6 - Devolverland Expo - Available Now for Free on Steam
Another proud moment of ingenuity - with E3 being cancelled and our usual Devolver Parking Lot made impossible, we worked with our friends at Flying Wild Hog to make a playable game convention on Steam called Devovlerland Expo. Sneak around the abandoned event, fend off guard bots, and watch the trailers in opulent digital booths all in the name of sacred marketing.
7 - Genital Jousting - Full Release + Story Mode
Nominated for the 2019 IGF Excellence in Narrative Award, Genital Jousting uses the framework of the mundane lives of anthropomorphized penises to tell a story of toxic masculinity and breaking down harmful socializations. We couldn’t be prouder of little John.
8 - Carrion - Behind the Screams
Crafted by the team at Imagos Films, this behind the scenes mockumentary is an absolute delight and one of the most fun live action promotional films we’ve ever produced.
9 - Return to Monkey Island | Gameplay Reveal Trailer
The sheer thrill of being able to bring back the iconic Monkey Island series with its creators Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman was distilled into this one moment of unveiling the game itself and showing what we and others had kept a secret for years. Absolute elation to share this with the world and longtime fans like ourselves.
10 - Inscryption - Developer Overview
Daniel Mullins is a singular developer that subverts expectations and everything else so we wanted to add a twist the usual developer overview that played to the strengths and unexpected surprises that made us love the game from the moment we first saw it. Love you, Stoat.
11 - Tentacular | Reveal Trailer | Quest & Steam VR
When you are working on a game about a giant tentacle monster, the obvious path forward is to do so in the style of a Planet Earth style documentary, narrated by none other than David Attenborough. Unfortunately for us, David Attenborough is WAY too expensive, so our own J.M. Specht crafted the most spectacular impression, which even fooled some members of the team. I dare say, this is one of the most spectacular trailers on our blue planet.
12 - Skate Story - Reveal Trailer
You know when you’re working on a trailer and the track is in your head for hours after stepping away from the computer that you’ve got something special. “Set it on Fire” by blood cultures was stuck in our brains for weeks while crafting this trailer. The combination of magical visuals, and an amazing soundtrack, impeccable direction from Sam Eng, and sound design from A Shell in the Pit created this masterpiece that was nominated for Best Trailer of Not-E3' from @PCGamer and we're not gonna argue that one bit.
13 - Neva | Reveal Trailer
This cinematic moment from the game was shared with the whole team live at a Devolver meetup and when it was over everyone had tears in their eyes. We knew right then that this was our reveal trailer.
14 - GLaDOS Plays The Talos Principle 2
As we thought about how we could have fun with this concept of advanced AI and what it means to be human in a world where AI had surpassed its biological creators, this idea of GLaDOS from the iconic Portal series playing The Talos Principle 2 seemed perfect. Massive thanks to Valve for seeing the vision as well and connecting us with GLaDOS voice actor Ellen McLain, models for GLaDOS and all the voice processing routine so we could make it perfect.
15 - Children of the Sun | Reveal Trailer
A combination sniper x puzzle game is a hard one to get across while also layering in the tone / vibe / style that developer Rene Rother had created. This is just old fashioned sexy editing against a perfect cover song by Sleigh Bells that brings it all together.
BONUS - OmniBus - Launch Trailer
This trailer holds a special place in our video production lead’s heart so we had to add it. Kert Gartner’s second son was about one year old, and he was watching a lot of Little Baby Bum on YouTube. His tired daddy brain made this magical connection, and musician Jukio Kallio made this incredible custom track of ‘Wheels on the Bus’ just for Omnibus.