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Surprise Release
- 152 statements
- 27 feature instances
- 3 referencing feature instances
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Advertising is important to make sure word is spread about your work. Typically, most major works have a multimillion advertising campaign behind them, with the company trying to make sure as many people as possible are convinced to buy into it. On the other end of the spectrum, there's Invisible Advertising, when the network puts little to no effort into promoting an upcoming work, usually because they're either more focused on one project over others, don't want a certain work to succeed, or believe they have a flop on their hands want to quietly bury it. A surprise release (sometimes known as a shadow drop) falls somewhere in between; the company is confident that a work has mass appeal, but instead of building up to its debut with a prolonged pre-release marketing campaign, they reveal the project and subsequently announce that it's already available to buy. Whether this is due to thinking that the true appeal of the work is too hard to explain and that audiences need to experience it directly so they can "get it", because the work in question is part of an existing franchise or from a known creator with dedicated and vocal enough fanbase that the company can simply get away with the act, or some other factor, the end result is that as soon as the trailer ends, you're told you can watch/play/listen to this right now. These kinds of works typically have been worked on in complete secrecy, often to the point that some of the involved parties don't even know of its existence until mere days, or even hours before they come out. While advertising may still exist and begin circulating to help promote the product after release, most of the "marketing" is arguably done more through word of mouth by the intrigued few (or many) who decide to immediately give it a chance. While an extremely rare practice beforehand, sudden releases started to take off as a marketing strategy during The New '10s, after digital distribution had become the norm and made it easier than ever for consumers to access new content. You'll most commonly find this occur in the fields of music and video games; especially the latter, where announcing a game's immediate release during a high-profile news event such as a Nintendo Direct isn't uncommon, as the high viewership of such livestreams or conferences by enthusiasts can garner smaller game developers far more attention than a standalone marketing campaign at far less cost. |
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Dropped link to Beyonce: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
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Dropped link to DavidBowie: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
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Dropped link to Eminem: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
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Dropped link to Hearthstone: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
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Dropped link to Radiohead: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
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Dropped link to TaylorSwift: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
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Dropped link to U2: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
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Dropped link to UnravelTwo: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
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DBTropes | |
| Surprise Release / int_284a7891 | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_284a7891 | comment |
Apex Legends was released on the same day it was formally announced, which was very unusual for an Electronic Arts game. Developer Respawn Entertainment were behind that decision, stating that they took inspiration from Beyoncé's surprise album strategy. | |
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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: The September 3rd, 2019 Nintendo Direct announced that Challenger Pack #3, Banjo and Kazooie, would be released that same day, have a gameplay reveal in the form of a Mr. Sakurai Presents immediately after the Direct. Sephiroth got a Mr. Sakurai Presents showcase on December 17th, 2020, and was set to release on the 22nd... however, if you owned the second Fighter's Pass, you could fight Sephiroth in a special limited-time game mode. Beating him in this mode would unlock Sephiroth for use in the game, as well as the Northern Crater stage and associated music up to five days early. |
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| Surprise Release / int_289f3039 | featureApplicability |
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| Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_2a893b9b | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_2a893b9b | comment |
Counter-Strike 2: Despite rumors of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive receiving a Source 2 engine upgrade having been circulating around the community for months, it still came as a surprise when Valve released three gameplay trailers of the new installment on the same day and announced that limited beta testing will be rolled out the very next day. | |
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| Surprise Release / int_31f54f23 | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_31f54f23 | comment |
Drainus was released on Steam the very day it was announced, with no leadup from its publisher Playism or its developers WSS Playground or Team Ladybug. | |
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| Drainus (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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Three spin-off titles in the Kirby series were all announced and subsequently released the same day: Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, Super Kirby Clash and Kirby Fighters 2. Of the three, only the last one had any information leak the day before the game's eventual release. | |
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| Kirby (Franchise) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_3b182a22 | comment |
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds combined this with an Early-Bird Release for the Season 2 episode "Those Old Scientists", a crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks— the episode was previewed at San Diego Comic Con 2023, and released on Paramount+ five days ahead of schedule. | |
| Surprise Release / int_3b182a22 | featureApplicability |
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| Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_49a87cb3 | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_49a87cb3 | comment |
Sephiroth got a Mr. Sakurai Presents showcase on December 17th, 2020, and was set to release on the 22nd... however, if you owned the second Fighter's Pass, you could fight Sephiroth in a special limited-time game mode. Beating him in this mode would unlock Sephiroth for use in the game, as well as the Northern Crater stage and associated music up to five days early. | |
| Surprise Release / int_49a87cb3 | featureApplicability |
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| Surprise Release / int_49a87cb3 | featureConfidence |
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| Final Fantasy VII (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_49a885c8 | type |
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The first DLC for Final Fantasy XVI, Echoes of the Fallen, was released the same day it was unveiled during the 2023 Game Awards on December 7. | |
| Surprise Release / int_49a885c8 | featureApplicability |
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| Final Fantasy XVI (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_524f646e | type |
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Ratchet & Clank: Life of Pie was released on the Canada-only streaming service Crave on February 14, 2021 without any prior announcement from producer Mainframe Studios or IP holder Sony Interactive Entertainment. | |
| Surprise Release / int_524f646e | featureApplicability |
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| Surprise Release / int_52a32f67 | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_52a32f67 | comment |
The Cloverfield Paradox: The film's first trailer was revealed on February 4, 2018 during Super Bowl LII, with the announcement that it would be released on Netflix right after the end of the game. This was done after Netflix had acquired the distribution rights from Paramount, who, after the film's extremely Troubled Production, didn't want to risk releasing an inevitable Box Office Bomb. The surprise release ended up paying off for Netflix, as despite negative critical reception, the film was seen 5 million times during its first week. | |
| Surprise Release / int_52a32f67 | featureApplicability |
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| The Cloverfield Paradox | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_5921531b | comment |
Persona 4 Golden's Updated Re-release on Steam was revealed the same day it launched— June 13th, 2020. | |
| Surprise Release / int_5921531b | featureApplicability |
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| Persona 4 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_5afbc0cb | comment |
Unlike its predecessor Undertale, which had a two-year pre-release period marked by a demo and a Kickstarter campaign, Chapter 1 of Deltarune was abruptly released on Halloween 2018 under the guise of a survey program. While the project was obliquely hinted at over the course of several years, Toby Fox never gave any explicit announcements about it during that period, resulting in the release of Chapter 1 catching fans and media off-guard. | |
| Surprise Release / int_5afbc0cb | featureApplicability |
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| Surprise Release / int_69d1d59b | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_69d1d59b | comment |
Pac-Man 99 was announced over social media on April 6th, 2021, and released the next day. | |
| Surprise Release / int_69d1d59b | featureApplicability |
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| Pac-Man 99 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_6cbd2b4b | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_6cbd2b4b | comment |
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog was announced and released on Steam for free on March 31, 2023 (April 1 in other territories including Japan), with the Sonic Twitter teasing "a new direction" for Sonic a couple hours prior, which turned out to be... "he's dead." | |
| Surprise Release / int_6cbd2b4b | featureApplicability |
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| The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (Visual Novel) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_6de4c11c | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_6de4c11c | comment |
Blaster Master Zero II was revealed during the Nintendo Direct on March 20, 2019 and released on the same day for the Nintendo Switch. | |
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| Blaster Master Zero II (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_7309e85b | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_7309e85b | comment |
F-Zero 99 was announced and released during the September 14th, 2023 Nintendo Direct. | |
| Surprise Release / int_7309e85b | featureApplicability |
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| F-Zero 99 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_7579423f | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_7579423f | comment |
The September 3rd, 2019 Nintendo Direct announced that Challenger Pack #3, Banjo and Kazooie, would be released that same day, have a gameplay reveal in the form of a Mr. Sakurai Presents immediately after the Direct. | |
| Surprise Release / int_7579423f | featureApplicability |
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| Surprise Release / int_7579423f | featureConfidence |
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| Banjo-Kazooie (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_7b8dcf33 | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_7b8dcf33 | comment |
Silent Hill: The Short Message was first revealed at the PlayStation State of Play of January 31, 2024, then became available to play for free later that day. What was especially surprising is that the project wasn't included in Konami's splurge of Silent Hill announcements in late 2022 (where works like Silent Hill: Ascension, a Silent Hill 2 remake, and Silent Hill f were announced), despite The Short Message having been in the works since much earlier (rumored to have been worked on since as far back as 2016). | |
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| Silent Hill: The Short Message (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_97433ec9 | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_97433ec9 | comment |
Red Vox's Kerosene was announced immediately after its release of Bandcamp, with the band making no prior indication that they were recording a follow-up to Another Light. | |
| Surprise Release / int_97433ec9 | featureApplicability |
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| Red Vox (Music) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_a201a0af | comment |
Hi-Fi RUSH was first revealed during Xbox and Bethesda's Developer_Direct presentation on January 25, 2023, and its segment was capped off by director John Johanas announcing that viewers could play the game "tonight". Sure enough, it released digitally on Xbox Series X|S and PC a couple of hours after the show for only $30 and was even added to Xbox Game Pass. | |
| Surprise Release / int_a201a0af | featureApplicability |
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| Hi-Fi RUSH (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_ae38b57d | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_ae38b57d | comment |
ARK: The Animated Series was originally announced at the 2020 Game Awards, only for the project to go radio silent for over 3 years... until it suddenly dropped on Paramount+ on March 21, 2024. | |
| Surprise Release / int_ae38b57d | featureApplicability |
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| Ark: The Animated Series | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_b2c6c7a4 | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_b2c6c7a4 | comment |
hololive's sixth generation, holoX,note pronounced "Horokksu" as a pun on the Japanese word for six "roku" and "ekksu" for X) was suddenly announced mere hours before their first member debuted. In comparison, other generations like HoloMyth (i.e. Hololive English Generation One) or the fourth generation (most well-known for Kiryu Coco) were announced well in advance, allowing hype to build. holoX nevertheless quickly racked up subscribers and views, despite the comparative suddenness of their unveiling. | |
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| Surprise Release / int_b5dbc020 | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_b5dbc020 | comment |
The first NES Remix was announced during the Nintendo Direct on December 18, 2013 and released that same day for the Wii U. | |
| Surprise Release / int_b5dbc020 | featureApplicability |
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| NES Remix (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_c84a9c92 | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_c84a9c92 | comment |
The digital versions of Switch remasters of Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 were announced and released shortly after the June 21, 2023 Nintendo Direct. The combined physical release would come in September, a few months later. | |
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| Surprise Release / int_ccff7184 | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_ccff7184 | comment |
Fyre Fraud was released with no prior fanfare by Hulu, presumably to complete with Netflix’s highly anticipated Fyre. | |
| Surprise Release / int_ccff7184 | featureApplicability |
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| Fyre Fraud | hasFeature |
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| Surprise Release / int_f58108a2 | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_f58108a2 | comment |
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo was revealed and released "in a complete coincidence" during the March 18, 2018 episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, having already been published, and just one day before the release of the book it was parodying, Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Life of The Vice President, as a massive Take That! towards then-VP Mike Pence and his homophobic views, as the climax of a segment on him. | |
| Surprise Release / int_f58108a2 | featureApplicability |
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| Surprise Release / int_fbfef40c | type |
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| Surprise Release / int_fbfef40c | comment |
Tetris 99 was announced during the February 13, 2019 Nintendo Direct, and released for Nintendo Switch Online members later that day. | |
| Surprise Release / int_fbfef40c | featureApplicability |
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| Surprise Release / int_fbfef40c | featureConfidence |
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| Tetris 99 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
| Surprise Release | processingCategory2 |
Advertising Tropes | |
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Trivia | |
| The Carters (Music) / int_eabbf859 | type |
Surprise Release |
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Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.