For nearly 20 years, EA's Battlefield series has been a pillar of the first-person-shooting game arena. With cutting-edge graphics, action-packed settings, and fiercely competitive company, Battlefield has thrilled audiences throughout the years across consoles.
In the midst of competition like notable series Call of Duty and the newcomer, Fortnite, EA wanted to make sure that their new and latest Battlefield game "Battlefield V" stood out from rest within the first-person-shooter marketplace.
With more ways to defend and destroy, unique battles, and something new to discover every time you play, EA wanted to push and highlight their fresh and exciting series addition with the objective of utilizing the biggest gaming influencers to dominate the Twitch and YouTube gaming space during the release of Battlefield V, including the Alpha and Open Beta.
EA partnered with BEN to bring in over 50 influencers across the globe to participate in 3 different campaigns associated with Battlefield V. Campaigns included squad-based gameplay around their early Alpha and Beta releases of the game, as well as creating an influencer made commercial featuring clips from influencers in the space. EA and BEN selected some of the best and most relevant influencers for the campaign, including top Twitch influencer Ninja and YouTube personality Casey Neistat, to deliver an appealing and unique experience for both the influencers and the viewers.
For the Alpha and Beta launches, influencers were provided codes and were teamed up to accomplish multiple in-game objectives. The Alpha Squad consisted heavily of Twitch streams, along with YouTube, while the Beta Squad was focused more on the YouTube and Instagram platforms. To further amplify the campaigns, additional gameplay highlight videos were posted to YouTube and Instagram.
Squads developed by EA and BEN not only worked well together but were watchable by fans. Influencers who regularly streamed other titles together were paired, while others who didn't typically stream alongside other influencers were given codes to share with their real-life friends. To address gaming preferences, EA and BEN isolated and targeted influencers with first-person-shooter backgrounds, for whom Battlefield V would have the easiest learning curve. To fit availability, BEN and EA identified peak streaming times for major influencers and positioned the streams to maximize viewership and make the biggest "splash," especially on Twitch. Participating influencers played their "regularly-scheduled programming," to build an audience, then unitedly switched to Battlefield V with their fellow streamers.
In addition to the livestreams and social posts, influencers were also sourced to create a Battlefield V TV spot. EA and BEN teamed up with the high production YouTube channel, Corridor Digital, to produce and direct a TV spot featuring top gaming clips from influencers. The TV spot was made entirely from influencers, generating a lot of hype and buzz in the community, and helped drive awareness for Battlefield V. The spot aired in December on networks such as ESPN.
#1 Trending Game on Twitch
Total Views: 50M+ Views across YouTube, Twitch and Instagram
Total Peak Concurrent Views: 798K Views (each influencer's peak views combined across two campaigns)
Total Minutes Watched: 159M Minutes
Between the two pulse points, over 50 unique influencers collectively garnered a total of 159M+ minutes viewed, with over 50M views across the three platforms. With dozens of Twitch and YouTube clips recorded, and highlight reels featured on gaming channels, Battlefield V piqued audience interest and stood out from its competitors. For the duration of the streaming event, Battlefield V made it as the highest trending game on Twitch.
