For more than twenty years, the World of Warcraft online video game has been a second home to many. One of the most extraordinary citizens of this digital world was Mats “Ibelin” Steen, a young man whose life was tragically cut short by Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
His inspiring journey is captured in the Netflix documentary “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin.” The film explores his unique challenges living with the condition, and shows that though he was isolated due to Duchenne, he also experienced a vibrant and rewarding social life with his fellow adventurers in the online realms of World of Warcraft (WoW).
Few causes have felt more relevant than raising awareness for the disorder that took Mats’ life. As the documentary gained attention, we began discussing how we could honor this extraordinary young man’s legacy - both in-game, and beyond.
After extensive planning and collaboration across multiple teams within Blizzard, we created the Reven Pack: a purchasable collection of in-game cosmetic items that allowed players to literally show their support. This $20 package not only provided a touching visual tribute, but also contributed to a very real cause: raising funds for CureDuchenne - a global nonprofit leader in research, patient care, and innovation for improving and extending the lives of individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive neuromuscular disease.
Our objective then became clear: raise as much money as possible for this extraordinary cause.
This is the story of how we did it.
This journey began when we first learned about The Remarkable Life of Ibelin. After discovering Mats Steen’s story, we knew we had to find a way to harness the power of our global audience to help others facing the same affliction.
Leveraging our in-game shop quickly became our primary strategy, allowing us to provide in-game items within the game Mats loved, rather than simply asking for donations. It was clear from the beginning that an initiative of this scale would require extensive cross-team collaboration across Blizzard, including marketing, brand, leadership, developers, and many more passionate team members.
The first step was designing an in-game item our players would want to purchase - something our developers have a great deal of expertise in creating. Soon, the concept of “Reven” began to take shape: an inquisitive and adorable fox pet that can join your grand adventures across Azeroth. “Reven” means “the fox” in Norwegian, and his design, based upon Mats’ in-game detective persona, was carefully crafted to appeal to all players.
Next, we needed to choose a charity partner. It quickly became clear that CureDuchenne, an organization dedicated to improving and extending the lives of individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, was the perfect fit. CureDuchenne was eager to collaborate, laying the foundation for a meaningful partnership poised to make real change.
With the concept finalized and our partnership secured, our social media strategy came into focus. As the developers brought the cuddly Reven fox to life - its irresistible charm making our job significantly easier - we worked to build a campaign strategy that would maximize visibility and awareness.
Following The Reven Pack’s release, we launched a full-scale, multi-channel social activation campaign. This included posts across all our social channels consisting of static assets, bespoke video content crafted using in-game footage, trailers, blogs, behind the scenes videos, and frequent updates designed to amplify messaging and maximize visibility.
Our goal was straightforward: give every WoW player the opportunity to contribute to a worthy cause while receiving something meaningful in return. This game was a significant part of Mats’ life, and we wanted to ensure that the game he loved so much could, in turn, honor him and his inspiring spirit - giving back in a way we hope he would have valued.
And when the results were in and the campaign had completed, we couldn’t have been prouder of the collective effort of the WoW team.
The results of The Reven Pack campaign were exceptional by every measure. Not only was it a tremendous success in terms of social media engagement and sentiment, more importantly, it raised a significant amount of money for the cause.
And by far the most important metric: over $2,000,000 was raised for CureDuchenne, a number we’re all very proud of.
While our social media efforts were just one part of a larger initiative, we are proud to have played a role in an extraordinary charity event - one inspired by an exceptional young man who was taken from the world too soon.
Debra Miller, Founder and CEO of CureDuchenne, perhaps said it best, “This campaign has been truly extraordinary—not only in the critical funds raised for research, but in the awareness it has generated for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.”
So here’s to you, Ibelin. Your legacy will live on in Azeroth, and beyond.
