The high-stakes deception behind a 2005 video game trailer

Countries & Cities · Published 12 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: When Sony debuted the trailer for Killzone 2 at E3 2005, critics were skeptical. It was thought that the impressive graphics could not be achieved in real-time on the PlayStation 3. It turned out the industry was right: the footage was a beautiful, pre-rendered deception.

At the 2005 E3 convention, Sony presented a trailer for Killzone 2 that showcased unprecedented levels of visual detail. This sparked immediate controversy among media critics, who argued that the level of fidelity shown was impossible for the PlayStation 3 hardware to achieve in real-time. The suspicion was compounded by a slightly delayed audio mix in the presentation. In response, Sony executives attempted to defend the footage. Jack Tretton, then Vice President of SCEA, insisted the footage represented actual gameplay. The presentation even featured soldiers landing in a hostile war-zone, a visual intended to showcase the intense atmosphere of the planet Helghan.

However, Phil Harrison, SCE Europe’s Vice President of Development, later clarified that the E3 2005 trailers were actually 'running off video' and were produced to 'PS3 spec.' Ultimately, it was revealed that the trailer was a 'target render'—a pre-rendered video designed to illustrate the developers' ultimate goals rather than a live demonstration of the engine's real-time capabilities. This high-fidelity vision was part of a massive development effort that saw the project's budget climb from an initial US$20 million to an estimated US$40–45 million.

Despite this initial deception, the final 2009 release achieved significant technical milestones. Developed by Guerrilla Games, the title utilized a proprietary deferred shading engine. This allowed for a sophisticated lighting palette and maximized processor throughput, though it introduced complexities in handling transparencies and anti-aliasing. A worldwide production effort enabled the game's vast scope, transferring large data files via the internet to staff in the US, UK, Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. To manage the complex visual workload, the team utilized specialized software like Hyperion for lightmap rendering and a custom tool called ColorTweaker for real-time color correction on the console.

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