Makers & Gamers is a documentary short film series that explores true and human stories in gaming by bringing together influential names in the developer world with interesting gamers who have unique and relevant histories. There are no scripts or concrete crafted plots, just two people with a common passion meeting for the first time to share, learn, laugh, cry and of course, play.

Free from a sales schedule or structure of a traditional advertising asset, we allowed filmmakers and their subjects to break away from the expected and be honest about the power of that specific game in their life.

Over the course of a year, we were able to concept the series, secure the team at thatgamecompany, identify our gamer, lock in top directing talent, shoot, edit and premiere the first episode of Makers and Gamers.

We launched the episode on the PlayStation Blog and social channels, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. This generated media coverage on popular sites such as Engadget and IGN.

Earning over 2 million views across PlayStation’s YouTube and Facebook channels, Makers and Gamers more than doubled its projected target. Of these views, 37% were organic, 60% were from male viewers, and 40% were from female viewers.

What was really exciting, were the comments we found throughout social media. An overwhelming majority of comments were positive and reciprocated the film’s inspirational and personal tone. People were touched, making this a special and unique moment in the history of video game marketing.

Even people who don’t classify themselves as gamers were fascinated with the emotional depth of Journey and shared stories about what the game meant to them. The best stories echoed the spirit of our film, with several people revealing their desire to get into video game development, in hopes of creating the same connection they saw between Sophia and Jenova.