Hey everyone!
First of all, thank you for the incredible response to our announcement. Whether you've wishlisted the game, shared the trailer, or joined the discussion, your support means a lot to us. We were especially excited to share an announcement trailer that reflects HUMANKIND's identity: a creative, original, and slightly offbeat approach, in the same spirit as the first game's memorable trailers, while celebrating the people, cultures, and civilizations at the heart of the experience
Alongside the excitement surrounding the reveal, we also noticed questions regarding the trailer's production. We'd like to clarify that topic directly 👇
"The HUMANKIND 2's live-action announcement trailer was filmed at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia using real actors, practical sets, and custom-made props created specifically for the production."
A Word from our CEO, Romain de Waubert de Genlis
Our founder and CEO, Romain de Waubert de Genlis, shared a few thoughts on why live action was the right choice for the announcement:
"Choosing live action felt like a natural fit. HUMANKIND 2 is a game about people, cultures, and civilizations across time. We wanted that human dimension to come through immediately in the announcement trailer. Working with real actors and our agency partner, BETC helped us create a stronger emotional connection while reinforcing the idea that, behind every major step in history, it is people who make the difference. The live-action footage was then enhanced through CGI-heavy post-production to bring the game's ambitious vision to life."
A peek behind the scenes with BETC
For this trailer, we once again partnered with our friends at BETC, a team we've worked with on several HUMANKIND™ campaigns in the past, including:
Bringing the HUMANKIND 2 announcement trailer to life meant recreating thousands of years of human history in just a few seconds. The production spanned 9 distinct eras, brought to life by 25 actors, more than 100 extras, almost 150 crew members, and even a cast of real animals including a pig, five chickens, and dozens of rats. Following 7 days of preparation, the team filmed everything in just 3 shooting days, building worlds that ranged from the earliest civilizations to humanity's future among the stars, all through the eyes of a newborn experiencing each era for the very first time.
BETC also partnered with LiveFX, a professional CGI studio, to create several of the trailer's most ambitious visual effects, such as the tornado, nuclear explosion, and space sequences. These shots were crafted and refined over months of post-production using traditional VFX techniques.
If you're curious about how these sequences came together, watch the short making-of video below to discover the different stages of production and the many VFX layers that helped shape the final trailer:
Here are a few words from Benjamin Le Breton, Creative Director at BETC, about the creative vision behind our announcement trailer. It's always interesting to get insight into the intentions that guide a project's creation:
“Our ambition was to condense the breadth of human history into 73 seconds without losing its emotional weight. Instead of telling a story about civilizations, we wanted audiences to experience them. Seeing the world through the eyes of a newborn allowed us to move across nine different eras and reminds us that while every generation inherits the legacy of those before it, each one also has the opportunity to redefine the future."
Behind the scenes
The production took place at Nu Boyana Film Studios, an incredible location with a long filmmaking history. Looking through the behind-the-scenes material, I have to admit I'm a little jealous I wasn't there myself!
Apart from the video, here are some additional images the team took on the set:
The Vikings are rowing under the rain |
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A make-up artist is doing test make-up on an actor, the day before shooting |
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More and more images |
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Thank You
A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to read and share our previous statement. We're excited to share more about HUMANKIND 2 in the weeks and months ahead.
We cannot wait to show you more and more about the game ✨