Objective

INCREASE GLOBAL AWARENESS AND COMMUNICATE ACCESSIBILITY

Final Fantasy XVI is the most accessible title in the gaming franchise’s long history, prompting Square Enix and PlayStation to focus on creating mass global awareness to attract broader action-adventure gamers outside of their core fans.

ENGAGE THE MASSES, NOT JUST FINAL FANTASY GAMERS

Strong emphasis was put on debunking the misconception that previous experience with the Final Fantasy series is necessary to enjoy FF16, while also making the game seem exciting and interesting enough for gamers worldwide to give it a go.

HIGHLIGHT PLAYSTATION PARTNERSHIP

FF16 is a PlayStation 5 exclusive because of the PS5’s unparalleled platform power creating a visually stunning gaming experience. It was important that this campaign naturally promoted both the game and the console.

Strategy

We wanted to create compelling content using unexpected voices that had worldwide reach and appeal. We built a campaign that showcased diversity through talent, audience, and global reach, using internationally-known athletes to illustrate how FF16 is a must-play for all levels and types of gamers. 

We secured eight unique global athletes in this campaign, all strategically selected and paired together to display unexpected connections around a central message: “No matter who you are, or where you’re at, you need to play FF16!”

Our global campaign was led by U.S. women’s college basketball superstar Angel Reese, who soared to fame after her national championship victory in March 2023, becoming one of the most sought-after sports influencers in America. This campaign was one of the first branded content pieces to feature Reese, and her involvement was truly groundbreaking, as a Black women’s college athlete had never headlined a video game campaign. 

Reese was accompanied by reigning Olympic women’s gymnastics all-around gold medalist Suni Lee, NFL tight end George Kittle, and WWE superstar Austin Creed. Each of these American athletes brought a unique audience and passion for gaming, and delivered dynamic performances.

Our international talent consisted of soccer stars Alphonso Davies, Gabriel Martinelli, Alessia Russo, and Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly. We paired English soccer star Alessia Russo with Gabriel Martinelli in a collab post that went live days before Russo announced her move to Arsenal FC, where Martinelli also plays. This soccer starpower collab generated significant international buzz and attention for its timely release as the two new ‘teammates’ promoted Final Fantasy side-by-side.

Our collab post between soccer star Alphonso Davies of Bayern Munich and Formula 1 star Pierre Gasly was the second-highest performing piece of branded content on both athletes’ pages in 2023. Davies’ rise to fame was an inspiration to many given his upbringing as a Ghanaian refugee who immigrated to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and he has amassed a large global following on his social channels. Gasly’s loyal, international fan base was also crucial to the success of this campaign. Gasly is well-known internationally as a Formula 1 driver, thanks in part to his inclusion in the international hit show Drive to Survive.

In all, we produced 39 unique pieces of content involving diverse high-profile athletes with an equally diverse social following, which helped to attract new audiences outside of core gamers, allowing PlayStation and FF16 to reach and captivate a truly global audience. We took great care to pair our athletes for both our hero edit and their collab posts to maximize reach and impact of the overall campaign.

Despite a truncated three-week production timeline for all eight individual shoots across the globe to get our campaign live in time for Final Fantasy’s release date, we managed to pull it off without missing a single deadline or deliverable.

Results

We created 39 unique pieces of content that lived cross-platform on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook. 

Quantitative success: 

• Our content-led campaign generated 30.2 million total views across platforms (including athlete channels and paid media). 
• In total, our content received 280,000 likes across all platforms. 
• Most importantly, FF16 sold 3 Million copies in its first week of release, exceeding initial expectations

Qualitative success: 

• We are extremely proud of the fact that our activation was the first video game campaign to ever feature a Black women’s college athlete as the lead talent.
• We put together a truly diverse global cast of unexpected talent, which resonated with core and casual on a global level, creating content that could be seamlessly utilized across the US, Europe, and other global territories
• Quote from Blake Freedman, Sr. Global Media Planner Playstation:

“The team at Rebel worked tirelessly to bring the creative idea to life. Despite the significant lift and short timelines they made it seem effortless. They understood the direction we wanted to go in, were open to feedback, and did an amazing job of anticipating our team’s needs which is no easy feat!”

Media