Thursday, 19 June 2025

Ensuring economic success: How does the trailer to AC: Valhalla target both mainstream and niche audiences?

  • High quality, realistic graphics demonstrating very high production values, including blood splatters, physics, fire, water, hair, facial expressions
  • Established, pre sold audience for the AC franchise 
  • MES of a wrist blade appeals to fans
  • Use of cut scenes presents a cinematic and high quality experience to the target audience
  • The trailer refuses to show more videogame elements, such as stats, HUDs, menus, exploration etc to appeal to new audiences and to not confuse them
  • Trailer looks like a film trailer, not a videogame! The trailer therefore can target film fans!
  • Intertextuality to other media products such as Vikings, Rome, Game Of Thrones, God Of War. All these references allow the trailer to target new audiences!
  • Graphics are of a particularly high quality, with extremely high production values. Effects such as blood splatter, water effects, fire effects and especially hair!
  • However, the footage from the trailer is not ‘in game footage’, but instead is a cinematic or a cut scene. This allows the producer to show off the highest quality aspects of this game 
  • Trailer looks a movie rather than a game, than helps the advert to appeal to a wider audience who may not be familiar with videogames 
  • A clear and well defined narrative with antagonists, protagonists and binary oppositions 
  • Camera angles, editing and MES all suggest high production values typical of a AAA studio 
  • Trailer uses conventions of action films and historical epics, and specifically resembles shows, films and videogames like Vikings, God Of War, Game of Thrones (intertextual reference) 
  • References to social media and other videos at the end (digital convergence)