The Secret Tournament
Ideation | Art direction | Creative direction | Earned | Experience design
Activision wanted to get gamers excited about Call of Duty again after the previous release, Vanguard's sales drop. They aimed to grab the attention of 18-35-year-olds with a steep target; sell over 2.5 million units of MWII at launch.
To get there, we focused on highlighting MWII's team play feature, creating hype beyond gaming by integrating it into mass culture and leveraging celebrity influence to re-engage gamers.
Inspired by the legendary Nike Secret Tournament, we orchestrated a secret knockout tournament in an MMA-style cage at an undisclosed underground location. This event featured two star-studded teams competing in a 6v6 clash, creating a media spectacle and an immersive experience for celebrities, journalists, content creators, and influencers.
Team Green, led by Big Zuu, included Olympic boxer Nicola Adams, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, Bullet for My Valentine's Matt Tuck, and YouTubers Tianna Mercedes and Tactical Brit. Team White, captained by Chunkz, featured England women's footballer Fran Kirby, ex-footballer Akinfenwa, and creators BennyCentral, Dalek, and Sunpi. The event was hosted by Professor Green, enhancing the immersive audience experience with live gameplay, a theatrical performance by actors, and an engaging viewing of the tournament.
This strategic blend of celebrity influence, immersive entertainment, and cultural integration effectively re-engaged the target audience, positioning MWII as the must-have game of the year and driving significant launch sales.
Outcome
Modern Warfare II became the fastest-selling Call of Duty game of all time
2.83m games were sold in the UK alone at launch
238 pieces of coverage 500M reach
Organic talent posts 9.3m reach
Organic Creators posts 1.6m views
8M views through creator content and 6,000 mins watched
MW2's opening week sales were 92% higher than Vanguard
US$1 billion within 10 days