State of Decay 3 Highlights a Long-Running Problem With the Gaming Industry

State of Decay 3 has been in the works for years, a new survival-horror game that reportedly carries on the emphasis on “survival” that was key to the previous two games. Fans have been dying for updates since a memorably effective cinematic trailer was released in 2020. However, it turns out the trailer might have been somewhat misleading.

According to the head of State of Decay 3 developer Undead Labs, that trailer was based on very early musings for the game instead of an actual reflection of the finished product. This isn’t an unheard-of practice in gaming, with plenty of developers doing something similar. Even if the cinematic trailers end up being really entertaining, the ones that lack a direct connection to the actual game they’re advertising have become increasingly frustrating.

State Of Decay 3’s Trailer Is Reportedly Not Connected To The Actual Game

State of Decay 3 has been in some stage of development for over six years. The third entry in the survival-horror series was announced in 2020, with players taken aback by the cinematic trailer promising a vivid and haunted world where the zombie plague has spread across species lines and morphed the undead into genuine monsters. Excitement was high following that release, but it turns out that fans had a while to wait before the game was done. State of Decay 3 is only just now approaching an alpha that is set to open up to players in May.

The time between the trailer hitting the internet and the actual game being released can be chalked up to proactive marketing courtesy of the animation studio Blur. According to an interview with Undead Labs head Philip Holt, the trailer was very much based on their rough concept and was produced when plans for State of Decay 3 hadn’t even gotten out of their initial Word document. As a result, memorable aspects of the trailer (such as the zombie deer) have been cut from the finished product. It can feel a little like false advertising, both in terms of how long fans have waited for updates and about the actual content of the game. However, it speaks to a long-standing aspect of games marketing that can be frustrating even while it releases some impressive ideas.

Cinematic Trailers Might Be Cool, But It’s Frustrating When They Don’t Have Anything To Do With The Game

Especially as gaming ramped up in the early 21st century and the hype machine became a crucial factor in plenty of success stories, video game companies increasingly used pre-rendered cinematic trailers to tease their upcoming games. Many of these trailers brought in phenomenal animation teams and delivered genuinely exciting-looking story trailers and teasers. However, there is also an inherent element of dishonesty at play in the practice, given the realities of how often these trailers don’t necessarily reflect the game they are tied to.

Sometimes, the trailers are meant more as cinematic teases of tone, such as when Gears of War used moody lighting and sad music in their trailers to imply a more somber tone for what would prove to be a gritty shooter with chainsaw guns. Sometimes, the cinematic trailers stand alone as animated short films, without ever giving players an idea of what the actual game will be like. The Star Wars: The Old Republic cinematic trailers paint an action-packed reimagining of the sci-fi franchise lore, whereas the full game is a much more deliberate and slow-paced MMORPG. Because the trailers are often produced by companies outside the developer, fans can even get impressive-looking advertisements for games that will never come out.

Plenty of mobile games try to lure players in with flashy cinematics only to be built on the same mechanics players have experienced for years. Sometimes, as with State of Decay 3, the trailer isn’t even reflective of a full game plan. The trailers are meant to advertise the game and get people excited, but they too often do too little to actually showcase the game. I write this as someone who loves a good cinematic trailer. The best ones are short enough short films that they can work on their own as examples of animation and filmmaking. A good cinematic trailer can be an engrossing short story tied directly to the game’s larger lore, which is the justification for Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s action-packed and setting-establishing trailers. State of Decay 3 shows the risk of that approach, however.

The trailer was released over half a decade before the actual game is even ready to be played, and reportedly isn’t exactly indicative of what players will experience. It runs the risk of alienating fans who were excited for the original idea and undercutting the connection between the cinematic creators, the game developers, and the player base. It’s frustrating as a player to have no idea what the actual game experience is going to be, even when a multi-million dollar ad campaign is trying to tell me it’s cool with well-produced trailers. There have since been other cinematic trailers for the game that seem to be more reflective of the game, but even then, they could be seen as promising a different game than what fans initially expected. Even if I love a good cinematic trailer, it’s frustrating when games like State of Decay 3 don’t actually reflect what the game really is.