Team17’s New Game Teaser Is Marketing Gold

Update (5/31): The [REDACTED] project is redacted no longer. Team17 has officially revealed the name of Absolutely Games’ inaugural title as Classified: France ’44. It’s described as a “turn-based tactics game,” and tells the story of an Allied special forces squad that infiltrates enemy lines ahead of D-Day. The game is set to release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC sometime in 2023.

We don’t publish many press releases here at The Punished Backlog. The philosophy being: There’s always a bigger outlet, with quicker fingers, to circulate what essentially is a list of marketing bullets.

Still, there comes the occasional marketing juice that’s worth the squeeze. Nintendo AU’s touching, if unsettling, Tears of the Kingdom ad from a few weeks back is one salient example. And today, publisher Team17 followed it up with a cheeky game announcement that had me chuckling and wondering, what the heck?

I See You, Team17

This morning, Team17 revealed the debut title from developer Absolutely Games. Except… well, “revealed” is a stretch.

Not only is the following 20-second teaser trailer devoid of details—it’s devoid of a title.

[REDACTED]. That alone wouldn’t have been worth this article and headline, but it’s the accompanying press release that truly sent me.

Essentially, it’s the Seinfeld of marketing blasts—a press release about nothing. Still, it’s a novel way to announce your first title, and one I felt compelled to share. (Ironically, I did some rudimentary redacting of my own; figured Team17’s PR Lead would prefer their email and phone number kept private.)

What Do We Know About Team17’s [REDACTED]?

We don’t know much. Based on the teaser and press release, it’s a World War II-themed strategy game. In addition, a pinned YouTube comment from Team17 includes a morse-code message (…– .—- … – / — .- -.– / ..— —– ..— …–) which, when deciphered, translates to 31ST MAY 2023.

May 31—a full reveal date, perhaps? It’s anyone’s guess whether [REDACTED] will live up to the hype its marketers have generated, but they’ve earned our attention—and a cold beer—for trying.