Video game trailers often rely on some high-octane visuals and clever editing to pull the crowd in. Pairing a trailer with the right music can make it unforgettable and give fans an indication of what they are in for.
Be it a small indie title or a much-awaited blockbuster such as GTA 6, every game needs a well-made trailer, and every trailer needs a special touch with music that can play a great hand in making the title a success, at least commercially by generating pre-release orders in large numbers.
So, if you are looking for video game trailers with the best music, you have come to the right place — our curation highlights some of the most unforgettable examples, which many gamers still love going back to now and then.
The best video game trailers with licensed music
1. Gears of War
Year: 2006
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
The first Gears of War was a game that made third-person shooters popular among the masses. It was a different kind of title back in the day. The obvious looming question: how do you introduce such a game to the world?
Well, you create a cinematic trailer for the game, showcasing the horrifying world it features, and add “Mad World” by Gary Jules to it. After that, you sit back and watch the magic unfold.
2. Cyberpunk 2077
Year: 2019
Publisher: CD Projekt RED
When the hype for Cyberpunk 2077 was sky-high, its developer and publisher knew that they had to ensure that the fans had every reason not to skip this game. To that end, we saw several TV spots featuring Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy”.
These small bytes had Keanu Reeves explaining how crime and punishment function in the world of Cyberpunk. It worked so well that even years later, with its Nintendo Switch 2 release, Cyberpunk 2077 is as popular as it was before its original launch.
3. Assassin’s Creed Revelations
Year: 2011
Publisher: Ubisoft
Woodkid is just too good — his music just fits well with games. However, most publishers did not realise this till Ubisoft decided to give fans a cinematic trailer of Assassin’s Creed Revelations mixed in with Woodkid’s “Iron”.
Something about it seemed right — it felt like that track belonged in that world, and that trailer could not have gained half that fame if not for Woodkid.
4. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Year: 2014
Publisher: Konami
In 2014, neither Metal Gear Solid needed any introduction, nor did the legendary video game director Hideo Kojima. However, the onus was on him to take everything he had done before to a higher level. He did that by editing a five-minute-and-thirty-six-second cinematic trailer for his then-latest title and throwing Mike Oldfield’s “Nuclear” in the mix.
While almost all of it featured in-engine footage, the trailer did not show any gameplay — it just narrated a tale of a soldier who lost most of his army to deceit and now hopes to avenge them. To those who understand the context, this trailer is mind-blowing to this day.
5. Dying Light
Year: 2013
Publisher: WB Games
Techland is an exceptional video game developer, and they created one of the most unforgettable zombie survival games, Dying Light. What’s more? They introduced it to the world in style.
After Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Revelations, it was Dying Light’s turn to feature Woodkid, and he had the perfect song for it. “Run Boy Run” had some deep underlying themes, but on the surface, it felt like the perfect fit for the game that features a character who uses parkour to get away from dangerous zombies.
6. Batman: Arkham City
Year: 2011
Publisher: WB Games
Rocksteady Studios made headlines with Batman: Arkham Asylum, and it was not long before they launched a sequel, Arkham City. This game featured a larger world, more villains, improved combat mechanics, and even brought in Catwoman as a playable character.
To introduce this new character’s gameplay mechanics, Rocksteady released a trailer with Lykke Li’s “Get Some” playing in the background, and it just worked perfectly.
7. GTA V
Year: 2011
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Who can forget this one? Out of nowhere, Rockstar Games drops the trailer for GTA V, one of the most anticipated games of that decade, and it becomes an instant classic. With its detailed visuals, a new character who voiced the trailer, and “Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake” by Small Faces playing in the background, the clip became an instant hit. Needless to say, this combination made it a worthy addition among the best video game trailer music moments of all time.
8. Saints Row: The Third
Year: 2011
Publisher: THQ
While Rockstar Games was subtle with the GTA V announcement trailer, developer Volition and publisher THQ decided to go guns blazing with the Saints Row: The Third one. This CGI trailer featured the Saints as they fought back against the hostile takeover of their gang, with Kanye West’s “Power” playing in the background.
9. Just Cause 3
Year: 2015
Publisher: Square Enix
The Just Cause series has always been about big explosions and ridiculous blockbuster movie-like action. Anyone who played the second instalment in the franchise knew very well what to expect from its sequel. Hence, developer Avalanche Studios decided to create an artsy cinematic trailer, showcasing all the destruction players can cause in the game, and used the song “Firestarter” by DE STAAT to make it stand out even further.
10. Battlefield 1
Year: 2016
Publisher: EA
Fans love the Battlefield series for its large-scale battles seen in semi-open world maps featuring numerous weapons and vehicle types. In perfect conditions, a modern Battlefield map will be nothing short of chaos, and this is exactly what the trailer for Battlefield 1 shows — soldiers designed with photorealistic detail fighting each other using guns, tanks, and planes, riding horses, and introducing gamers to the gritty setting of WW1 to the tunes of “Seven Nation Army” by The White Strips and The Glitch.
11. Mad Max
Year: 2013
Publisher: WB Games
This open-world action game, developed by Avalanche Studios, is perfect for any Mad Max fan out there. It features a gritty world, twisted characters, a vast collection of vehicles to destroy, and a story that, once again, gives Max hope for peace. All of this is represented accurately by one of the best video game trailers, accompanied by a track that matches its feel — “Soul of a Man” by Steven Stern and George Krikes.
12. Death Stranding
Year: 2016
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment and 505 Games
Hideo Kojima is incredibly good at editing video game trailers and selecting just the perfect song for them. He had previously proven it with MGS V, and he did it all over again with Death Stranding.
This trailer for Death Stranding featured Norman Reedus, who wakes up on a beach and is soon standing face-to-face with numerous beached whales and five figures floating in the sky, all with Low Roar’s “I’ll Keep Coming” slowly creeping up the decibel scale.
This trailer gave away nothing about the game but told fans that Kojima was back and had not lost his great taste in music.
13. Dying Light 2
Year: 2021
Publisher: Techland
Years ago, Techland introduced the world to Dying Light with Woodkid’s “Run Boy Run”, giving fans the sense of emergence that comes with its parkour mechanics and fast zombies. In 2021, they introduced its sequel with a cinematic trailer featuring “Where is my Mind” by Safari Riot, showing everyone how the choices and their consequences work in this title.
14. Assassin’s Creed Unity
Year: 2014
Publisher: Ubisoft
The cinematic trailer for Assassin’s Creed Unity shows the French Revolution in motion, with the masses attacking the army, getting shot, and more coming up and continuing the onslaught. It’s a good-looking, well-directed trailer, and is further elevated by Lorde’s “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” playing in the background.
15. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Year: 2025
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Hideo Kojima is back with a sequel to his 2019 hit Death Stranding. Like the first one, this title, too, features a mysterious world, weird creatures and a lot of celebrities playing various characters.
To show all of this, Kojima released a 10-minute-long trailer featuring Woodkid’s “To the Wilder”. If this trailer did not convert its naysayers into fans, nothing would.
16. Dead Island 2
Year: 2014
Publisher: Deep Silver
Back in 2014, publisher Deep Silver gave Yager Development the responsibility to make Dead Island 2, the sequel to their 2011 zombie survival title. They even released a fun trailer to announce the game, showing a jogger turning into a zombie with Pigeon John’s “The Bomb” on his music player. This is often cited as one of the best video game trailer music moments.
Although that iteration of the title was cancelled later, this trailer remains one of its best reminders.
17. Just Cause 4
Year: 2018
Publisher: Square Enix
Avalanche Studios knows how to make mind-blowing trailers to introduce their games to the world, and they proved it once again in 2018 with the Just Cause 4 reveal. This trailer featured “Believe in Me” by Artizan and FFM, with protagonist Rico using his wingsuit and various vehicles to simply jump into various massive twisters. Of course, it shows the series’ trademark blowing up of things, too.
18. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands
Year: 2015
Publisher: Ubisoft
Ubisoft reintroduced the world to the Ghost Recon franchise after a long gap with Ghost Recon Wildlands, an open-world stealth action third-person shooter game. The first cinematic trailer of this title shows all the different ways in which players can tackle a single mission. With its cinematic gameplay showcase and Imagine Dragons’ “Friction” playing in the background, this trailer ended up building a lot of hype for this title.
19. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Year: 2016
Publisher: Capcom
Capcom wanted to bring back the horror element to its long-running zombie action franchise, and they decided to turn it into a first-person, found-footage-like experience. To introduce this changed Resident Evil to the world, they chose to turn the classic folk song “Go Tell Aunt Rhody” into a creepy, dread-inducing version, and it worked — this track became one of the most memorable aspects of that trailer.
20. GTA 6
Year: 2023
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Years after the release of GTA V and the massive 2022 GTA leak, Rockstar Games decided to give gamers a glimpse at what they have been doing all this time, and it was worth the wait. In classic Rockstar Games style, the first trailer showcased the game world and its features with a cool song, “Love Is a Long Road” playing in the background, giving us yet another addition to the best video game trailer music moments. This track says a lot about its story and characters, which we will get to experience first-hand on 26 May 2026.
(Hero Image Credit: Techland; Featured Image Credit: Rockstar Games)
This article first appeared here
