Rivals of Aether 2
CHOOSE YOUR RIVAL.
Rivals of Aether 2 - Events Videos
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In July of 2025, I was given the opportunity to work with publisher Offbrand Games and independent game studio Aether Studios for their latest platform fighting game, Rivals of Aether 2, released in October 2024.
In a role previously held by friend and visual wizard Nickolai Boulton, my responsibility as Senior Video Producer was to work closely with the development team, community managers, programmers, tech artists, illustrators, and audio team to conceptualize, direct, write, produce, record, provide voice over and provide voice over direction, edit, and package promotional videos for their in-game events and cosmetic items, at least two per month every month, to drive sales of their primary revenue source and fund the game’s development post-launch.
Following the high standard that Nick had set and embracing the mantra of “Rule of Cool” both he and the dev team shared, I produced over 20 unique videos, each with their own theme, concept, style, pulled references, deep cuts, and inspirations. From Mecha Anime Openings, Promotional Wrestling Spots, 90’s Video Game Commercials, even a unique take on Pagliacci, and so much more, each video was made in a 2-3 week sprint, from start to finish, incorporating a number of motion graphic, film, and 2D animation approaches to be unique, engaging, entertaining, fun, and most importantly, sincere.
Passion and dedication runs deep through the veins of every facet of this series, from the studio leads, the dev team, the publishers, the community, and everything in-between. That passion and dedication has helped make Rivals of Aether 2 one of the most successful and beloved platform fighters in the genre’s history.
With multiple competitive tournaments, both locally organized and under the official competitive circuit of the Rivals 2 Championship Series, majors held on both the national and international scale (in Chicago, Ohio, Baltimore, Paris, Germany, Spain, and beyond), the fighting spirit is strong within the Rivals community.
That spirit burned brightest at the largest tournament of all, at EVO 2026, held in Las Vegas in June, where Rivals of Aether 2, with a registered entrant pool of over 1,000 players, sitting just below Riot Games’s 2XKO, and fighting game legends Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6, proved to be one of the most electrifying competitions held that weekend.
Rivals of Aether 2 was the only indie fighter featured in the game lineup that year in a roster full of AAA-studio games. I am beyond proud of the team and the community who made that happen, and I am honored to have been a part of that, as both the Senior Video Producer and as the In-Game Announcer, as of June 2026.
So, who is your Rival?
While the guiding philosophy of this production has been to create content that is unique, engaging, fun, and sincere, there are many routes to achieve that goal. For that reason, I will be adding additional breakdowns of each video on an ongoing basis below.
Last Updated: September 15, 2026
This may seem like an odd choice to break down out of the gate, but to me, “Clown Ranno” is the most conceptually ambitious production of this bunch, and the one I am most proud of.
For context, at this point in the game’s production, Ranno was in a uniquely controversial position in the game’s meta: Ranno opponents hated to play against him, Ranno players loved to play as him yet felt he hadn’t been receiving the cosmetic attention they thought he deserved in ages. Finally, that changes, Ranno is receiving an Epic Mid-Monthly skin… as a clown.
Adding to that, our chosen premise for this video’s narrative was rooted in the sad clown paradox joke of Pagliacci.
Given all of this, this powder keg of tension, high expectations and desires, and a negative narrative foundation in a sad, depressed clown, how do you craft something that people like?
Well, you flip the situation on its head and that negative into a positive. Why is Ranno depressed? Because he is simply too good in competition and has lost the joy of fighting. “But doctor… I’m literally HIM.”
That twist allowed for so much more creative freedom in how we framed this promo, and from there, everything feel into place. With a script refined by Offbrand Games Video Lead Jimmy Beliakoff, gameplay footage from one of our top Ranno players on the Dev Team, Concept Artist Vin Blangiardo, voice over from Ranno voice actor Ray O’Hare, a callback to a prior depressed Ranno visual gag by Nickolai Boulton, and stumbling upon somehow the perfect hype-building-circuis-eske trap backing track with BLUE STEEL’s “LUCHA LIBRE,” what initially appeared to be an impossible creative conundrum turned into pure fool’s gold.
February 2026’s promotional videos presented a very unique opportunity to pay homage to the creative works of one singular creative tour de force: Genndy Tartakovsky and his series “Primal” and “Samurai Jack.”
PRIMAL DAWN