Menyusun Showcase Game Berarti Memperlakukan 45 Menit Seperti Teka-teki
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Dek: With so many gaming showcases spread throughout the year, Evil Empire aims to respect your time with its Triple-I broadcast.
Video game showcases used to be infrequent but over the last couple of years, we've seen an explosion of online broadcasts. One of the more noteworthy events in this space is the Triple-I Initiative, which is just a pure blast of video game trailers without any fluff--no ads, no host, just games--as organizer Evil Empire, an indie developer itself, would tell you. So what goes into making a video game showcase, and how does one stand out from the dozens of events that already exist? Those were some of the questions we asked Evil Empire's co-founder and head of business, Benjamin Laulan.
"I'm a big showcase enthusiast myself," Laulan said when I asked him about the origins of Triple-I, and what makes it different from everything else. "I grew up with conferences and this kind of stuff, so at a small scale, I guess the first ambition was to try to reproduce the kind of emotions that, as a viewer, you can experience while watching a live event. In terms of what makes us different, I think that as showcase enthusiasts ourselves, we wanted to really acknowledge the viewer and have them in mind at all times when creating the showcase. That means we wanted to be really respectful of their time; they chose to be there instead of doing something else. This is why we went with a 45-minute 'in and out' structureāonly trailers, no hostāto really try to give them what they want, which is cool trailers from cool games, basically."
Laulan added that Evil Empire differentiates itself from its fellow showcase organizers by focusing on an enthusiast audience with "high-quality" indie games. Part of the challenge then becomes balancing a curated selection of games and holding the attention of your audience across almost an hour of back-to-back trailers.
"For us, it's really important to find a nice rhythm between exciting new announcementsālike world premieresāand big names returning," Laulan explained. "We have to look at it from a lot of different perspectives: the art style, the genre, the IP, and the scope of the game. We don't want too many similar titles back-to-back, so you need a good flow. It also depends on the style of the trailer itself. We have some pretty hectic trailers and some that are more laid back, so it's about finding a balance between the types of announcements, the tone of the trailers, and whatās actually being shown on screen. Itās very important to us. We usually end up with around five different versions of the running order, and we watch them multiple times with the team to gather feedback on the overall rhythm."
Evil Empire also works with the developers behind the games they're showcasing, as Laulan added that the studio is primarily focused on making those games "shine" in the brief window that they have during the broadcast. "For us, since Triple-I is not a proper business for Evil Empire, we always have the quality of the trailers at heart to make them shine," Laulan said. "Our objective is really to make their game, trailer, and announcement shine, so we work closely with them."
"Since we're hosting a live event, it's very important to take advantage of that format, have fun with the audience, and really try to get them excitedāto make them lose their minds when a popular IP comes back. So when I see a trailer where the IP reveal is rushed in the first ten seconds, I tell them, 'Guys, take your time. Drop some breadcrumbs, have fun with the music, or show a beloved character appearing in the background.' We want them to use that momentum of a live event so streamers will have great reactions to their big comeback."
So how does Triple-I curate its trailers? Laulan said that the whole idea behind Triple-I was to "build the largest targeted audience possible" for specific types of games, to make them the main event of the show. "Essentially putting the right games in front of the right people," he added. "We wanted our games to be the stars of our own show and the main reason people tune in, rather than just acting as appetizers for larger events or first-party showcases."
"To achieve that, it was crucial to include highly anticipated games, big sequels, and established names. Those titles draw in sizable communities that merge into one large collective audience. When you put the right games in front of that audience, conversion happens naturally. That is why I believe weāve seen success with these numbers: People realize that if they enjoy a few specific games in the lineup, they will likely enjoy the rest of what we present to them."
Evil Empire isn't afraid to show off games without an established name behind it, as the studio believes that these games can bring something new to the table and stand out. "For the smaller underdogsālike a developerās debut title that doesn't yet have an established fanbase to bring to the tableāour criteria shifts. The question becomes: Does this game elevate the show? Does it bring something new, different, or interesting? Does it look exceptionally well made, or feature a standout mechanic? For those titles, we look for a strong sense of novelty, freshness, or sheer creative energy in the trailer," Laulan said.
Now in its third year, the Triple-I Initiative's showcase format has settled into a comfortable groove, and Laulan explained that Evil Empire has plans to expand for future showcases. "Our first big objective for this year is to nail running two events in a single year, which is already quite a challenge," Laulan explained. "Moving forward, it's more about expanding our reach to a wider audience and forming stronger collaborationsāwith first-party partners, for instance. We've had very interesting discussions with first parties for this upcoming event. So it isn't about changing the recipe; itās about delivering even greater games and trailers to an even bigger audience.
"In any case, curation and the lineup will always be king for this type of showcase. People tune in to see cool games, so that will always be the priority. We are driven by the quality of our lineup, and the strength of our partnerships depends directly on that quality. We have no interest in turning this into a physical event or inflating production values unnecessarily. We want to remain as cost-efficient as possible. Even though this is a paid showcase, we keep prices low so it isn't a heavy financial burden for studios, while still giving the event every chance to succeed through quality partnerships and execution."
What could that success look like five years from now? Laulan says Evil Empire imagines the Triple-I Initiative as not only a showcase that attracts a wide audience, but also a key player in helping a game find its audience.
"Five years from now, if we manage to reach even larger audiences, maintain our efficiency regarding wishlist conversion, and keep studios extremely happy to feature their games with us, then Iāll consider it a success," Laolan said. "I would love to reach a pointāwhich is actually starting to happen alreadyāwhere the Triple-I Initiative becomes the cornerstone of a game's marketing campaign. If a top-tier studio builds their entire marketing strategy around a big reveal at Triple-I, that would be the ultimate proof that we succeeded."
The second Triple-I Initiative showcase of 2026 airs on October 8 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET, and the 45-minute show will include eight exclusive world premieres from studios such as Team17, Amanita Design, Strange Scaffold, and Norsfell.
Sumber: GameSpot