Marketing Material - The Library - Legacy of Kain: The Lost Worlds

Marketing Material

A considerable amount of material was produced by the marketing wing of Eidos for distribution to retailers and the media in order to publicize the Kain games - particularly the two Soul Reaver titles. Although not intended as merchandise for collectors, these items often find their way into that secondhand market via outlets such as eBay.

Each of the games was advertised by at least one poster. Soul Reaver in particular had many different designs created in its honour. Some of the more exotic examples in The Library are the Kain the Vampire (see Japanese Releases) poster which was photographed for the Defiance bonus material and a Soul Reaver 2 poster signed by the cast and crew. Like many of the items in this section, these were both gifts from Amy Hennig, the incredibly kind former series director.

Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance each had special giant cardboard boxes created for display in stores. These boxes are approximately 16 inches tall, 12 inches wide, and 2 inches deep. The Soul Reaver 2 box features an early version of the packaging design including a mention of the vampires which were deleted from the game (see Vampires) and screenshots of Soul Reaver-Style Combat.

An unusual marketing tactic was employed in Britain to promote the release of the original Blood Omen - a two-for-one voucher for the London Dungeon with the game's logo at the top. The voucher depicted in the photo below belongs to Ian Caldwell; I do not have one in my personal collection.

The largest item in this section is a cardboard display which was produced to advertise Defiance. It stands free on the floor, and is approximately five feet tall.

Perhaps the strangest Kain tie-in is a Defiance ashtray prototype which was made in Germany. The (unused) ashtray in the Library is marked "40/45". It was apparently part of a test run which did not lead to mass-production. Its surprising heft strongly implies that it was intended for use in commercial establishments such as nightclubs and restaurants. I won this particular ashtray in a fan art contest on the German Eidos forums (danke GoranAgar und DarkBorg).