Game publisher Meteor Entertainment enlisted us to produce a go-to-market franchise strategy for their upcoming PC game, Hawken. Set to premiere on 12-12-12, Meteor had one year to build a fan-base, encourage those fans to pre-register for the game, and elevate their cross-platform presence as a true entertainment brand.

To begin, we worked alongside DJ2 Entertainment to translate 200+ pages of original mythology into one perfect entry point into the narrative universe. That entry point became the original graphic novel Hawken: Genesis, an origin tale that grounded the sci-fi epic in relatable human drama. Inside the book published by Archaia, we included 22 pages of in-depth interstitial content (scientific journals, encrypted military files, puff magazine profiles) that established our vast mythos and heightened the world’s realism. To win over the comics community, each chapter was illustrated by a new A-list artist such as F.R. Velasco, Bill Sienkiewicz, Nathan Fox, and Christopher Moeller. Using these big names as ambassadors, we distributed four sample chapters as free digital previews via ComiXology to draw fans into the world. Meanwhile, free in-game credits within each comic incentivized readers to play the game and explore that world for themselves.

Using the book as a launch pad, we then orchestrated an integrated marketing campaign for the game. A national PR tour began across top pop culture conventions alongside an army of strategic alliances that raised our visibility and credibility on and off the expo floor. One of the first game demos for Oculus. Affiliate deals with Origin, Nvidia, and Wacom. Hell, one of the Beastie Boys was our DJ at our E3 after party. We went big and we never went home.

Within one year and with one dynamic franchise strategy that prioritized market penetration, Hawken was everywhere. But did the campaign work?

First off, critics and fans alike embraced the graphic novel, likening its quality and execution to comics icons Watchmen and League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The success of the book generated buzz around the brand as a whole, encouraging the market to take the brand seriously. Licensing deals in toys, apparel, and consumer products were sealed. Pacific Rim producer Mary Parent optioned the film rights. Even Matrix producer Joel Silver co-funded a web series pilot with Machinima and Warner Bros Interactive.

Best of all, not only did our campaign result in over 1 million registered users (an unprecedented number for a free-to-play game), studies showed that 75% of our readers registered for the game and exceeded the standard user in long-term engagement and monetization by four times.

The overall buzz around Hawken resulted in multiple awards, over 30 more nominations, and two successful financing rounds totaling $28 million. And when Hawken – a free-to-play game – finally launched on Steam on February 14, 2014, users reportedly spent $1M on in-game credits and digital goods on its first day. A year later, Hawken was acquired by Reloaded Games, one of the largest publishers of MMO games in the world.