Hunter: The Reckoning Key Art and Trailer
In a major moment which served as testament to both the game’s impact and the strength of our Brand and Motion teams, Fluid’s key art and full-CGI cinematic short opened the Xbox Partner Preview, announcing NACON’s Hunter: The Reckoning – Deathwish.
Slated for Summer 2027, Hunter: The Reckoning - Deathwish is a dark, gritty action RPG set in a shadowy New York, where monsters hide in plain sight and ordinary people become Hunters - not for glory, but to protect what matters most. It’s a world defined by tension, paranoia and consequence, with gamers playing the role of Hunter - the last line of defense for the innocent against a threat that surpasses you in every way. Welcome to the World of Darkness.
Fluid’s Brand and Motion teams won NACON’s competitive pitch, and were tasked with creating both the key art and the all-important announcement trailer for the Xbox Partner Preview. The Brand team’s creative approach was anchored in three core themes: tension, humanity and defiance. The aim was to create something instantly iconic, rooted in noir, with a gritty, distinctive palette that reflects the game’s dark tone while hinting at hidden worlds and the duplicity of its enemies.
In tandem, the Motion team developed the announcement trailer as a full-scale mini film, drawing inspiration from the World of Darkness IP and building on the game’s lore to infuse the creative with themes of paranoia and misdirection. Set within a grim, shadow-cloaked New York City, Fluid’s storytelling delivers a tense, cinematic narrative that grips the viewer, following a seemingly routine disturbance that quickly unravels into something far more sinister.
Themes of deception, investigation and unseen threats drive the story, posing the question: who do you trust when the lights go out? This story-led approach, grounded in mood and suspense, ensures the trailer not only introduces the game, but leaves a lasting sense of unease - where everything is a threat, and monsters don’t hide in the shadows… they wear familiar faces.
The voiceover further reinforces this sense of deception, while subtly alluding to the game’s action-combat and reliance on teamwork, leaving audiences thrilled, unsettled, and eager to discover more.
Our key art is striking and confrontational: a central Hunter emerging from a smouldering New York cityscape, caught between werewolf and vampire adversaries. It’s a moment of suspended conflict, rich with atmosphere and narrative promise, shrouded in the moody signature tones, shot through with threatened violence. With the game still in early development, both key art and trailer were built entirely from scratch.
From bespoke environments and props to fully custom characters, tattoos, clothing, accessories and weapons, every element was crafted in-house in a highly technical end-to-end production - from scripting and storyboarding, to the creation of fully realised digital characters, the team created a complete cast for the trailer, including performance capture across motion and facial animation. Our sound design plays a critical role - rain hitting pavement, glass underfoot, the hum of failing lights - all working to heighten tension. Voiceover and pacing reinforce the sense of unease, while subtle narrative cues hint at teamwork and survival against overwhelming odds.
A six-month end-to-end production, the final short film stands as Fluid’s most ambitious cinematic project to date. Paired with bold, iconic key art, the campaign delivers a cohesive and compelling introduction to the world of Hunter: The Reckoning – Deathwish, and a standout moment in the Xbox Partner Preview.
