In the gaming universe, Call of Duty Warzone is a living legend - a blueprint for FPS battle royale games that’s spawned many imitators. While the popularity of Call of Duty Warzone on consoles is indisputable, translating console games to mobile-first audiences involves a complex demographic shift of core consumers. With Activision’s launch of Call of Duty Warzone Mobile, our task was precisely that: create a community for a mobile-first player-base while maintaining the cultural cache of Call of Duty Warzone.
We knew in order to capture the attention of our research-generated target audience, we’d have to bridge the gap between Warzone and entertainment to ignite a new fandom. Moreover, we had to create content that inspired a new audience - familiar with Warzone, but unfamiliar with the mobile experience - to contribute and create in their new seat at the table of familiar IP.
To build this new community, we had to make it easy for new and existing fans to find their seat at the table. Ahead of game launch we created a ranging slate of digestible mobile first content that was, at its core, entertaining, allowing consumers to passively and actively engage. At the same time, we subtly provided product awareness to heighten game expectations and continue to draw on the vaulted lineage of Call of Duty Warzone.
From voicemails and infomercials to influencer collaborations and Warzone-themed memes, we drove engagement and built a core audience through a balance of gaming culture and product awareness with a consistent cadence of 30+ original creative assets scrupulously tailored to audience segments across different platforms. Moreover, content was generated for global audiences, being localized in 5+ languages throughout the campaign.
The Operation Day Zero activation tied to launch was particularly successful in the United States where our team’s joint efforts with Activision were focused, despite mobile-first audiences’ larger presence globally. Launch weekend content generated nearly 2B impressions and 250K+ mentions across social platforms. Over the 6-month course of the campaign after launch, we also saw:
