Challenge
How do we position DD2 to opportunity audiences beyond the high fantasy core?
Following a decade plus long hiatus, the Dragon's Dogma series is back with the second installment of the series that promises more than just a sequel. Having been built on their proprietary RE engine, Capcom were able to expand upon the original story and experience by adding a host of new features. From looking at all the content and material coming from Capcom Japan, our biggest concern was totally adopting the high fantasy route as it posed a risk of deterring potential action adventure and mainstream gamers.
Our approach
Luckily for us, not only did they create a massive open and dynamic world to serve as the setting for a deep fantasy story that gives players the freedom to choose their character's fate, but they also optimized two key features that we believed were key in advertising DD2 to both opportunity and growth audiences - the updated action/combat system and AI pawn system.
Our execution
Partnering with our in-house media team, we were able to identify a clear ad phasing strategy that complemented Capcom's key beat road map.
Social Activation Before any media activity began, we saw an opportunity to create some contextual brand content to engage with Capcom’s community on social media around the Valentine’s Day holiday.
The Arisen’s heart is a key element to Dragon Dogma’s lore, and with some playful messaging and executional flair, we were able to connect the game to this media moment. We also produced a physical Valentine’s Day card for influencers and Capcom Japan’s dev team.
Pre-launch First, the character creator demo, bolstered by paid influencer activity, allowed players a first look at the game that was being promoted by 'honest voices' in each key market.
Our pre-launch campaign shortly followed, further increasing awareness. We wanted to clearly communicate the promise of a high action experience, so we prioritized the aforementioned key features in our video assets, whilst ensuring that our asset messaging maintained a high fantasy tone to strike the right balance.
We segmented audiences based on those with a core affinity for the 12 year old franchise, as well as forging connections with a broader action/adventure audience across a range of relevant touchpoints, from social media on reddit, Meta and Tiktok to gaming staples such as Twitch and IGN.
Launch For launch, we leveraged a high quality trailer asset from the US, built in collaboration with Capcom Japan, to ensure Western consistency for this massive release beat, all whilst ensuring that our EMEA edits maintained our action focused strategy.
We also took this opportunity to directly engage with the enormous PC playing audience with takeovers on the gaming internet browser, OperaGX - a media first for Capcom.
Post Launch Once the game was released, we followed up on our launch with an adapted accolade trailer, which highlighted all the outstanding scores and reviews Dragon’s Dogma 2 had garnered post-embargo. In terms of media performance, equipped with the learnings made during the previous campaign phases, our media team was able to optimize spend and deliver an incredible 73% VTR across all our video partners for the campaign.