Theory : The trailer was changed last minute as a response to leaks.
After watching the direct I couldnt shake the feeling that it just felt "off" compared to practically every other fromsoftware trailer and marketing cycle especially with a network test coming so soon.
My theory is that nintendo changed the direct last minute in order to spitefully hit back at the natethehate leaks in may, and orginally we were meant to get more information or at the very least a longer showing than we got.
PREVIOUS EXAMPLES OF LEAK RESPONSES:
Insider information suggested that the starfox reveal was internally delayed simply as a response to natethehates leaks. Insider information also revealed the fact nintendo took these leaks VERY personally. Knowing that they changed the starfox reveal out of sheer spite gives a motive and a previous for why the duskbloods info was trimmed down.
ABNORMAL TRAILER LENGTH:
The duskbloods trailer we currently have is the single shortest trailer of any fromsoft game from elden ring onwards. Its length is slighly shorter to that of the nightreign character reveal trailers. This stands out as an outligher as its technically a trailer 2. On average the second trailer for all fromsoft games is usually the longest by far. Nightreign is an outlier but with elden ring, its dlc and armoured core 6 the second trailer length was far longer and expansive making a under minute trailer very suspicous.
ISSUES WITH THE MARKETING CYCLE:
One of the reasonsthis trailer felt off is because fromsoft trailers are often very predictable in their sequence and very transparent in their meaning. A typical fromsoft games media cycle will follow a very set order all previous games included:
- reveal trailer (with developer interview)
- second gameplay focused trailer
- CGI story/setting trailer
- media preview AND/OR network test
- TV spot trailer/ smaller social media trailers
- launch trailer
Pretty much every fromsoft game has fit this to a tee, never as far as I know have we had a trailer of this length be the second trailer OR had a network test reveal this early in the media cycle. Given that we are in june and the network tests are happening in "the summer" there would at least need to be a media preview + comprehensive gameplay trailer + CGI story trailer in less than a month and a half. Potentially this could be due to nintendo doing the marketing however the inital media cycle was so similar to nightreigns and elden rings that I find it hard to believe. The only way I can see these issues and more being fixed is if there was a dedicated direct for the duskbloods which may happen as so far every first party switch 2 game has had its own direct.
we also do NOT have a date for this game whilst having a closed network test announcement which has never happened before, which means another trailer would have to be done to reveal the release date unless its posted on twitter randomly.
Whilst this seperated part might be cope, part of me believes that the game was meant to be shown in the treehouse live segment but was replaced by starfox (which had already had a 2 media previews and a demo making the treehouse redundant).
THE TRAILER EDITTING:
This segment is more vibes based than the others however its what clued me in the most to my theory. What we were shown in the trailer feels rushed editing wise, all other fromsoft trailers specifcally trailer 2s are quite sparce when it comes to cuts often being quiet and drawn out in the openning. For an example look no further than the duskbloods first trailer , we are given a lenghty long and drawn out cutscene for the first third followed by a series of longer gameplay footages for the second third and finally a montage of characters and locations with voiceover. This is exactly how nightreign was revealed as well, same formula, drawn out first third of characters running through the rain, second third of longer fight and gameplay scenes , final third quick montage.
I think , or at the very least my theory is that we only got the last third of the duskbloods trailer, a fromsofr gameplay trailer immediately beginning with fast edits with voiceover is extremely rare. Furthermore there is a lack of a notable "FROMSOFTWARE" title placement in the trailer.
More copium theory, if you watch the trailer the placement of the fromsoftware logo at the bottom of the title feels very out of place. If i was trully hollowed i would suggest that the image orginally showed the release date but due to internal changes it was editted out and overlayed with the fromsoft logo to keep the composition.
"TARNISHED EDITION" :
Another reason why i feel like theres been internal changes to fromsoft specifically is because of the very confusing release and announcement of the tarnished edition.release date. I feel it was also cut from the direct due to two reasons.
- its notable absence from the SOULS LIKE segment of the direct.
- its abrubt release date announcement.
it feels very strange that the release date was not announced at the direct even with the tweet. Especially due to the fact it was a day 1 switch 2. announcment alongside duskbloods AND there was a "hard games" segment it was absent from.
I believe that there was a mention of tarnished edition at the end or alongside the duskbloods trailer and it was cut for time or due to internal shifting. This is why it wasnt in the souls like segment AND why the duskblood segment felt so brief compared to all the other first party announcements.
TLDR
Something seems very strange when noticing duskbloods segment in the direct compared to all first party games. I genuinely believe this is another star fox situation and nintendo have delayed news in order to spite the leaks. I would not be surprised if in less than a month we get new info because how else is a network test meant to run this summer.