PR earthquake for Dirt 3 debut

Codemasters has finally, officially revealed first details of racing blockbuster Dirt 3.

The debut trailer was shown on ESPN channels last weekend during the Summer X Games.

The announcement is part of a PR ‘earthquake,’ which also includes previews in both the US and UK editions of Official PlayStation and Official Xbox.

Codemasters hadn’t actually officially announced the game until the weekend, even though MCV published first details on its existence earlier in the year. The publisher says the teased announcement has helped it secure a higher level of coverage than ever.

The fact that we’ve been talking about it for over four months isn’t the big deal; it’s the massive co-ordinated reveal of detail that has been the target,” said director of communications Rich Eddy.

There has been a build of momentum at press, trade and social community levels rather than a come-from-nowhere news splash.

We’ve been building the vibrations in readiness for the Dirt earthquake: the impact of this week ‘big event’ reveal, which encompasses everything from ESPN to IGN’s international online blow-out, transatlantic print specials, to community and social communications.

This is our first major spike in Dirt 3 and we’ll be shooting for that level of volume all the way to launch.”

Codemasters will also present the game during a special event at the London Games Festival in October.

Dirt 3 will launch next year for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The game will have over 50 off-road vehicles and twice as many tracks as Dirt 2. Once again racing legend Ken Bloch is on-board as the ‘voice’ of the game.

The full version of the Dirt 3 trailer is online now and can be viewed in the digital edition of MCV for iPad and PC/Mac.