For millions of devoted fans, God of War is sacred. In the new game, PlayStation changed the franchise setting from Greek mythology to an all-new Norse world. Filled with unfamiliar characters, untested weapons, and unexplored realms, we needed to prove that this game would be the best God of War yet.

For millions of devoted fans, God of War is sacred. In the new game, PlayStation changed the franchise setting from Greek mythology to an all-new Norse world. Without much gameplay to share, we needed to prove that this game would be the best God of War yet. Working closely with PlayStation, we created The Lost Pages of Norse Myth: a multiplatform campaign designed to fill the gaps in ancient Nordic sagas with rich storytelling videos, a chatbot adventure game, a mobile AR experience, an original podcast series, and more. Bit by bit, we showed gamers how the new God of War fit into the larger world of Norse Mythology.

To keep gamers engaged for almost a year, we couldn’t rely on tried and true video game marketing techniques. Instead of releasing a slew of highly-visual gameplay trailers, we immersed fans in God of War’s brand new world with a campaign of original content released on PlayStation’s organic social channels.With a steady stream of content, we got them talking about the new weapons, characters, and world. Soon, they were sharing with their friends, and the gaming press wasn’t far behind--covering The Lost Pages every month.

We revealed The Lost Pages on social media over nearly a year, launching a digital activation accompanied by a podcast episode every month.

We gave gamers an artful prologue of God of War’s new story with a live sand art performance at E3, challenged fans to decode ancient runes on Twitter, and revealed fearsome enemies with animated concept art. We let our followers explore the game world early with an emotional text adventure, and even released an AR experience so they could bring a game map of God of War’s world into their own.Our podcast featured interviews with the game’s developers, alongside original stories that added to the God of War canon—connecting it to the ancient mythological tomes. Inspired by authentic Norse craftsmanship, the campaign had a look all its own while remaining consistent with the aesthetic of God of War’s 2018 release.

With engaging content released month after month, gamers eagerly anticipated—and shared—The Lost Pages. The campaign garnered 847,000 social mentions and made over 944,000,000 impressions. Our messenger bot shot to #1 in Facebook’s entertainment category, and our podcast went to #1 on iTunes’ gaming chart. Best of all, God of War went on to become the fastest selling PS4 exclusive ever. Clearly, fans were convinced that the franchise is still worth obsessing over.