10 Awesome Video Games Betrayed By Terrible Marketing
7. The Last of Us Part II
It’s difficult to think of a more divisive PS4 game than The Last of Us Part II, and its provocativeness didn’t begin when players booted it up and saw what Naughty Dog actually created. Instead, it began with their deceptive promotional tactics, which included swapping characters in prerelease footage to foster incorrect expectations.
Just look at the scene in which Ellie stares disbelievingly at Jesse (off-screen) before asking, “What the hell are you doing here?” (after which the camera shows him replying: “You think I’d let you do this on your own?”) It’s a great moment, but it’s not what was promised in the teaser.
On the contrary, the trailer replaced Jesse with Joel, implying that he eventually joins Ellie on her quest. In reality, Joel’s murder is the catalyst for Ellie’s lonely, brutal, and debatably villainous crusade for vengeance and understanding.
True, people (including Creative Director Neil Druckmann) have argued that such cons were crucial to maintaining the “magic” of the experience, but there must’ve been better ways to do it. Lovers of Joel and Ellie didn’t need extra reasons to be distraught going into The Last of Us Part II, but Druckmann and company fueled the flames anyway.