Infinite Warfare Hostile Takeover
Activision challenged us to come up with a way to announce the newest game in its Call of Duty franchise – Infinite Warfare – in a memorable and innovative way. We determined that if the announcement was to be memorable, it needed a social element. We ultimately discovered the insight that Call of Duty’s biggest social network isn’t Facebook, Twitter, or Snapchat. It was the game itself. Hence, there was no better platform to announce the newest game than in the current best-selling game of the year — Call of Duty: Black Ops III.
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Call of Duty's biggest social network isn't Facebook, Twitter, or Snapchat, it's the game itself.
Played by millions every day, the best-selling game of 2016, Call of Duty Black Ops III, made it the perfect social network to announce the next release. We went after the legions of Black Ops III players by literally going into the game and teasing the new game, Infinite Warfare, over a constructed 3-day “Hostile Takeover” whereby characters and story elements of Infinite Warfare invaded the gameplay.
Over 8 million fans and in-game players participated in the reveal teaser.
The reveal kicked off as the enemy warship from Infinite Warfare appeared over Black Ops III’s most popular multiplayer map, NUK3TOWN.
Over the next 24 hours, enemy propaganda appeared in-game and online, taking over the map as well as all of Call of Duty’s social channels.
On the final day, fans reported to Lt. Reyes using chatbot technology, as he gave instructions on how to fight back and rewarded them with a first look at the brand new reveal trailer for Infinite Warfare.
