Baity Battle is proof that a brand can connect to its audience in an unexpected and innovative way while staying true to local culture and traditions.

This project managed to create a virtual solution to a real-world problem, merging the centuries-old tradition of Ramadan into the newest source of entertainment for young people in a quickly advancing culture.

Hacking a game that is completely unrelated to Ramadan and bringing it to their local context created a memorable and relevant brand experience for gamers and their families.

During Ramadan, spending time with your loved ones is the most important thing; the second is respecting fasting and mealtimes. We wanted to reinforce that, especially to younger Saudis.

In KSA, 89% of the population play games. And 39% of gamers play for longer hours during Ramadan. Could gaming be getting in the way of Ramadan’s strict mealtimes? Yes. Studies show that 99% of gamers lose track of time when playing.

They were missing the time for Suhoor, the last meal before fasting during the day, and Iftar, the first evening meal where people break. For families, that meant they had to fast longer while waiting for the gamers to come to the table. For gamers, it meant withstanding longer fasting hours during the day.

stc Baity Games is the fastest gaming connection in Saudi Arabia, so we had to help.

stc is the biggest telecom company in Saudi Arabia, a brand recognized across the country. It represents the fast technological development of KSA while being a respected and traditional local company.

During Ramadan, the most important month for Saudis, we wanted to raise brand affinity and admiration while showing that mixing tradition with new behaviours and innovative thinking is possible.

stc Baity Games is the fastest connection for gaming in KSA.

Ramadan:

Ramadan is the holy month for Muslims and the most important cultural occasion in Saudi Arabia. This time is meant to be spent sharing meals and special moments with loved ones.

Mealtimes are extremely important because Muslims observe fasting. During Ramadan, the times of meals and prayers are set by the exact timings of sunrise and sunset–timings that change daily. Observing the sky and the horizon is crucial for knowing when to start or break fasting.

99% of gamers lose track of time when playing. That’s a bigger problem during Ramadan, due to the strict mealtimes and fasting.

Baity Battle is the first game synced in real-time to help gamers remember mealtime.

We created an island on Fortnite that followed sunlight hours in Saudi Arabia, helping Muslim gamers keep track of time by looking at the game skyline.

When the sun in the game was approaching the horizon, it was almost Iftar time, the meal that breaks fast at precisely sunset.

When the sky in the game started to get lighter, gamers had to stop for Suhoor, the last meal before sunrise and the last before the full day of fasting.

Baity Battle is a first-of-its-kind in-game solution for a real-world problem faced by millions of Muslims in the region and connected with consumers during the busiest time of the year.

During Ramadan, spending time with your loved ones is the most important thing; the second is respecting fasting and mealtimes. We wanted to reinforce that, especially to younger Saudis.

In KSA, 89% of the population play games. And 39% of gamers play for longer hours during Ramadan. Could gaming be getting in the way of Ramadan’s strict mealtimes? Yes. Studies show that 99% of gamers lose track of time when playing.

They were missing the time for Suhoor, the last meal before fasting during the day, and Iftar, the first evening meal where people break. For families, that meant they had to fast longer while waiting for the gamers to come to the table. For gamers, it meant withstanding longer fasting hours during the day.

stc Baity Games is the fastest gaming connection in Saudi Arabia, so we had to help.

Utilizing Fortnite’s in-game Creators Platform, we hacked the game’s internal day cycle, changing it from 30min to 24h on the Baity Battle island. Once that was sorted, we proceeded to sync it to the Arabia Standard Time Zone (UTC+3) and to Saudi Arabia’s accurate sunrise and sunset times during Ramadan.

The island was inspired by the KSA map, and featured mountains, cliffs, deserts, the sea, a modern city, and a traditional village. It also included challenges and side-missions inspired by Saudi hobbies, like camping, falconry, and dune bashing.

The whole process took 5 months of intense craft, testing, and regular approvals with Epic Games.

Baity Battle was live during the entire Ramadan, and it was featured on Fortnite’s Discover Page for the first days, receiving weekly updates, keeping gamers engaged and returning to play with friends and family. Saudi twitchers promoted and played the game.

Baity Battle impacted more than 4MM players during Ramadan on the Fortnite platform and on Fortnite’s Discovery Screen, where it was featured for the first days of the month.

Gamers amounted to impressive 12MM minutes in-game. That means they couldn’t stop playing it and making sure they’d not miss their next meal.

Baity Games, stc’s fiber connection plan dedicated to gamers, saw an increase of +16% in subscriptions.

And most important, Zero family meals were missed by gamers who chose to spent Ramadan having fun with the first-ever game mod synced in real-time with Saudi Arabia’s time and sunlight hours.