Fall Guys was one of the global gaming hits of the pandemic. But two years later, when new owner Epic (of Fortnite fame) wanted to make it free to play, it was no longer the buzz game de jour. Our brief was to help recapture its former glory while generating noise around the upcoming free-to-play announcement.
The Fall Guys social team had always done things differently. Community manager Oliver had created a unique social voice that mixed nice with spice. Giving the wholesome brand a troll some edge. And they behaved like fans, not a brand. They speculated about their own game, and poked fun at their own marketing. Which gamers, tired of safe corporate messaging, loved.
We set out to follow their example, by creating fake news around the game and the upcoming announcement. We created a film of a fake focus group, viewing a fake potential game update. But that featured REAL, never seen before gameplay and was littered with other easter eggs previewing elements of the new season to come. The footage was then ‘accidentally’ posted on the fall guys channels.
This leaked video was quickly followed up with panicked messages from Oliver, the game devs and ‘marketing’. Leaving fans to try and figure out what was real and what not. Triggering a barrage of content and conversations, and helping the real announcement stream gain over 800k organic views on YouTube.