Cannes Lions

Project Magnes

BISCUIT FILMWORKS, Los Angeles / MICROSOFT / 2022

Awards:

1 Shortlisted Cannes Lions
Film
1 of 0 items

Overview

Entries

Credits

OVERVIEW

Background

Halo Infinite is the long-awaited return of Xbox’s most successful game franchise. Our mission was to bring lapsed players back and a new generation into the franchise.

Like every Halo game before it, Halo Infinite centers around Master Chief, a gaming icon and quintessential hero. In 2007, the highly regarded Halo 3 campaign asked gamers to believe in a hero. But in today’s society, it’s harder than ever to ask people to believe in true heroes. Our real-world heroes are letting us down. And, in entertainment, darker anti-heroes have taken their place.

With the return of Halo, we had a chance to reignite something sorely missing in the world. The feeling of a true hero. A hero that doesn’t reflect us, but one that shows the best of us. And when we step into Chief’s armor, we become the hero we need.

Idea

Master Chief has always been Xbox’s superhero. But in 2021, Superhero fatigue was real. Research showed that Xbox needed to make their superhuman more human.

The UNSC Archives is a series that added to the lore behind Chief’s iconic suit, showcasing three untold stories of hope and humanity that went into every tool. These emotional, meticulously crafted shorts took players to small pockets of the Halo universe to show the unsung heroes sacrifice.

Project Magnes: the origin of Chief’s newest weapon through the story of a civilian engineer and her attempts to develop a new combat device for Chief.

Strategy

We talked to gamers about heroism and they told us that anti-heroes are more relatable than traditional heroes like Master Chief. They said believing in true heroes seems childish. This leads us to our challenge. How do we create desire for a true hero in a world that no longer believes in them?

The answer lies within a psychological truth of gaming. According to a study by the University of Oxford, the further away your real life is from the character you’re playing in game, the more comfortable you are in that character’s skin, and the more fun you have playing the game.

Right now, our gaming audience feels completely disconnected from true heroism in their real lives. Halo Infinite allows us to step into the armor of Master Chief and be the true hero we can’t be in real life.

Our strategy: invite gamers to feel true.

Execution

The UNSC Archives is a series of shorts created as historical records of the heroism behind Master Chief’s armor. Each film opens on an expertly crafted digital environment featuring 2D and 3D elements. The historical footage is then accessed, and a unique story of heroism brought to life.

Project Magnes is a story told in montage-style, featuring an original environment design inspired by the science fiction trend of “Solar Punk”.

Outcome

With over 20 million players, Halo Infinite is the most successful Halo launch in franchise history.

With no paid media, the UNSC archive videos garnered 3.9 million views on YouTube alone. And more than just views, the gaming community started talking and sharing. With tens of thousands of comments and hundreds of thousands of likes, the engagement rate, at 6%, more than tripled our benchmark.

These films contributed to a massive spike in Halo mentions in November. With 4.3 million social mentions, Halo saw an increase of 244% compared to Halo mentions in October.

The core can make or break a launch and these films got them engaged and evangelizing for us, leading to one of Xbox most successful game launches ever.

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