This page collects every official video trailer released for Outbound between its February 2024 reveal and its April 23, 2026 launch. Square Glade Games ran a long, deliberate marketing campaign, using trailers to pace the game's roadmap from initial announcement, through a Kickstarter, a string of high-profile showcases, and finally the release window. Each entry below includes the event or platform where the trailer debuted and the features it highlighted.
Overview
Outbound's public marketing began with a reveal trailer in February 2024 that introduced the core concept of a cozy, off-grid camper van life simulator. A Kickstarter campaign trailer followed in August 2024 and helped fund the game within roughly two hours of launch. Over the next eighteen months the team used trailers to unveil new biomes, announce console platforms, celebrate wishlist milestones, and drive demo downloads. The marketing push intensified in early 2026 with a Steam Next Fest demo, a Nintendo Indie World appearance, a Future Games Show multiplayer reveal, and a dedicated gameplay loop trailer tied to the physical edition announcement.
The publisher Silver Lining Interactive partnered with Square Glade Games to place the later trailers in major showcases rather than releasing them as standalone YouTube uploads. That strategy put Outbound in front of large audiences at events like Xbox @ gamescom, Nintendo Indie World, and the Future Games Show Spring Showcase, helping the game climb past 1.2 million Steam wishlists before launch.
All Official Trailers
Title | Date | Event / Platform | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
Outbound Exclusive Reveal Trailer | February 12, 2024 | IGN Exclusive / YouTube / Steam | Concept reveal, camper van premise |
Kickstarter Campaign Trailer | August 13, 2024 | Kickstarter / YouTube | Crowdfunding pitch, Kickstarter campaign |
Coast Biome Reveal Trailer | August 19, 2025 | Xbox @ gamescom 2025 Live Broadcast | New Coast biome, Xbox Series X|S confirmation |
Closed Beta Announcement Trailer | October 15, 2025 | YouTube / Steam | 1 million wishlist milestone, closed beta rollout |
Steam Next Fest Demo Trailer | February 2026 | Free demo promotion | |
Nintendo Indie World Showcase Trailer | March 3, 2026 | Nintendo Indie World Showcase | Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 platforms announcement |
Future Games Show Multiplayer Trailer | March 12, 2026 | Future Games Show Spring Showcase / FGS Live from GDC | 4-player co-op, April 23 release date, pricing |
Gameplay Loop Trailer | March 15, 2026 | YouTube / Press release | Core loop breakdown, physical editions |
Before You Buy Trailer | April 9, 2026 | YouTube / Steam | Pre-launch buyer's guide with Spencer Cannon voiceover |
Launch Trailer | April 23, 2026 | YouTube / Storefronts | Global launch day on PC and all consoles |
Announcement Trailer (February 2024)
The Outbound Exclusive Reveal Trailer debuted on February 12, 2024 as an IGN-exclusive and was simultaneously uploaded to Square Glade Games' official YouTube channel and the Steam store page. It was the first time the public saw the game in motion. The trailer introduced the core concept: a solo traveler restores an abandoned electric camper van and sets off through a utopian near-future landscape, harvesting wind and solar power, tending small crops, cooking meals, and customizing the van's interior.
Visually the reveal set the tone for everything that followed. Softly stylized 3D characters, hand-painted textures, and a warm color palette positioned Outbound alongside other cozy exploration titles while still feeling distinct. The trailer emphasized the art style, the transformation of the van from empty shell to personalized home, and the promise of a long road trip across varied biomes. It ended with a wishlist call to action and a pointer to the upcoming Kickstarter campaign.
Kickstarter Campaign Trailer (August 2024)
On August 13, 2024, Square Glade Games launched their Kickstarter campaign and paired it with a new trailer produced specifically for the crowdfunding pitch. The video took a slightly different angle from the reveal: instead of focusing purely on atmosphere, it walked viewers through the game's feature pillars, showed more gameplay footage, and explained what backers would be funding. The developer's two-person team appeared on camera to explain their vision and ask for community support.
The campaign was fully funded in roughly two hours and went on to raise approximately 265,679 euros from 5,197 backers, comfortably clearing every base goal. A series of short stretch goal celebration videos followed over the next several weeks as new milestones unlocked features such as additional biomes, expanded van customization, and localization support. These clips were typically brief, informal updates from the development team rather than polished trailers, and were shared primarily through Kickstarter backer posts and the Outbound Discord.
gamescom 2025 Coast Reveal Trailer
Outbound made its first major international showcase appearance at the Xbox @ gamescom Live Broadcast on August 19, 2025. The new trailer that debuted during the livestream served two purposes. First, it unveiled an entirely new biome called The Coast, a sun-soaked beachfront area where players can park directly on the sand and build a seaside getaway. Second, it confirmed that Outbound would launch on Xbox Series X|S in addition to PC via Steam and PlayStation 5.
The Coast footage showed ocean waves, palm trees, tide pools, and new van decorations themed around a summer vacation aesthetic. The trailer also reinforced the game's other pillars: expanding and customizing the rolling base with modular systems, harvesting solar, wind, or water energy, growing crops, foraging wild edibles, and exploring together with friends. It ended by pointing to pre-orders on Xbox Series X|S and wishlist links on PlayStation 5 and Steam.
Closed Beta Announcement Trailer (October 2025)
In mid-October 2025, Square Glade Games announced that Outbound had surpassed one million Steam wishlists and was entering closed beta testing. A short trailer accompanied the press release. It celebrated the wishlist milestone, showed brief clips of the beta build running in both single-player and four-player co-op, and thanked the Kickstarter Beta Edition and Alpha backers who were being invited into the test. Over 3,400 supporters received access to the closed beta, which tested both solo and multiplayer modes and helped the team stabilize online play ahead of the public demo.
Steam Next Fest Demo Trailer (February 2026)
The February 2026 edition of Steam Next Fest was Outbound's first real public playtest. A short demo trailer promoted the free download, highlighting the opening hours of the game: waking up in the abandoned van, restoring basic systems, setting out along the first stretch of road, and meeting the game's small cast of friendly creatures. The trailer leaned into the game's reputation as one of the most anticipated cozy titles of 2026 and served primarily as a call to action to try the demo during the week-long event.
The demo itself became one of the festival's most downloaded and discussed entries. Press coverage compared it to The Long Dark viewed through a Pixar filter, noting the light crafting, the scavenging for food, the gentle sense of direction, and the absence of a traditional fail state. Players who pass out from exhaustion simply wake up somewhere safe rather than losing progress, which matched Square Glade's stated goal of making a survival game about living rather than not dying. The strong reception helped push the game past 1.2 million Steam wishlists by early March.
Nintendo Indie World Showcase Trailer (March 3, 2026)
Outbound appeared in the Nintendo Indie World Showcase on March 3, 2026. The trailer announced that the game would also launch on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, expanding the previously confirmed platform list of PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. It also revealed that a playable demo was available immediately on both Switch hardware families following the showcase, letting Nintendo players try the same slice of content that PC players had tasted during Steam Next Fest.
The trailer showed the camper van rolling through a sequence of biomes, the four-player online co-op mode, the workstation crafting system, the energy harvesting options, and a handful of van customization upgrades. The clip was compact to fit the showcase's fifteen-minute runtime but still communicated the core hook to a Nintendo audience that had not previously followed the game closely.
Multiplayer Trailer (Future Games Show, March 12, 2026)
Silver Lining Interactive and Square Glade Games premiered a dedicated multiplayer trailer at the Future Games Show Spring Showcase and FGS Live from GDC on March 12, 2026. This was the marketing push that finally locked down the exact release date, confirming that Outbound would arrive on April 23, 2026 at a digital price of $24.99 USD / £19.99 / €24.99 across all platforms.
The trailer put the four-player cooperative experience front and center. Footage showed groups of players sharing a single camper van as a mobile home base, coordinating chores, cooking together inside the van, driving in convoy across open terrain, and decorating their shared space. Reviewers singled it out as one of the standout reveals of the Future Games Show, helped by its polished visuals and the relative rarity of cozy games built explicitly for co-op groups. The clip ended by pointing viewers to the pre-order pages on every platform.
Gameplay Loop Trailer (March 15, 2026)
Three days after the Future Games Show appearance, Square Glade released a separate gameplay loop trailer on March 15, 2026. Where the multiplayer trailer focused on co-op, this one broke down the full daily cycle of an Outbound playthrough: waking up, gathering resources, tending crops, cooking a meal, repairing or upgrading part of the van, charging the battery via solar or wind, driving to the next point of interest, and making camp as the day ended. It was the most structured gameplay breakdown the studio had released up to that point.
The trailer was timed to coincide with the announcement of physical editions for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. The standard physical release was priced at $39.99 on Switch and $49.99 on Switch 2, with a collector's edition available at $79.99 and $89.99 respectively. The collector's edition includes a physical road map, an art piece, a hanging charm, enamel pins, fabric patches, and additional goodies. Both physical tiers bundle a copy of the soundtrack and the School Bus Adventures DLC.
Before You Buy Trailer (April 9, 2026)
On April 9, 2026, roughly two weeks before launch, Square Glade published a "Before You Buy" trailer aimed squarely at players who were still deciding whether Outbound was for them. The video took a buyer's-guide format, narrated by voice actor Spencer Cannon, and walked through exactly what the game is and is not. It confirmed the lack of combat, the absence of hunger death, the optional nature of the dog companion system, the depth of the character editor, and the scope of the four-player co-op. It also reminded viewers that a free demo was still available on every platform so they could try before committing.
The "Before You Buy" framing was deliberate. Cozy games sometimes struggle with audience expectations, and the studio wanted to set those expectations clearly: Outbound is a slow-paced, zero-stress exploration game about living on the road, not a fast-paced survival game about constant threat management. The trailer functioned as both a marketing piece and a short answer to many of the frequently asked questions that community managers had been fielding on Discord and Steam forums.
Launch Trailer (April 23, 2026)
A final launch trailer accompanied Outbound's worldwide release on April 23, 2026 across PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. The launch trailer pulled together the best-looking footage from previous trailers with fresh gameplay shots from the release build, set to the game's original soundtrack. It was uploaded simultaneously to Square Glade Games' YouTube channel, the Outbound Steam store page, the PlayStation Store, Xbox's marketing channels, and Nintendo's eShop listings.
The launch trailer closed a marketing cycle that had run for just over two years, from the February 2024 reveal through the April 2026 release. Each previous trailer had added one piece to the overall picture, from the Kickstarter campaign that funded development, through the Coast biome reveal at gamescom, to the demos at Steam Next Fest and Nintendo Indie World, to the multiplayer and gameplay loop trailers that clarified exactly how the finished game would play. By launch day the studio had published roughly ten distinct videos plus a series of smaller Kickstarter and community update clips, giving Outbound one of the more thoroughly trailed cozy releases of its launch window.
Where to Watch
All official Outbound trailers are available on the Square Glade Games YouTube channel at youtube.com/@SquareGlade. Most of them are also embedded in the game's Steam store page, which keeps a rolling selection of the most recent promotional videos at the top of the page. Event trailers can additionally be found on the channels of the showcase that hosted them, including Xbox, Nintendo, and the Future Games Show. See the development history article for a fuller timeline of how each trailer fit into the studio's broader roadmap.