The Situation: Most sci-fi & fantasy TV shows these days come with a built-in fanbase; whether from an old book, a comic or a computer game. Netflix's new sci-fi series Tribes of Europa was an entirely original idea with none of that...

Oh and there was a global pandemic...

The Brief: So let's create a fanbase then! Ahead of the show's launch, Netflix wanted to get that hard-to-impress sci-fi audience buzzing about Tribes.

The Objective: Get sci-fi fans engaging with the world of Tribes, drive them to check the show out and stay for a trademark binge.

Create a campaign only Netflix could pull off and further cement their position at the heart of digital & pop culture.

And make it lockdown-proof.

Introducing; Race for The Cube... a pan-regional digital scavenger hunt-powered LIVE escape room twitch gameshow.

First we created tribal allegiance, anointing 4 famous twitch streamers from across Europe as leaders of the show's main tribes, their fans becoming their loyal subjects and then faced them off against one another in a race for glory.

We sent our leaders a mysterious Atlantian Cube (a key narrative prop from the show) covered in puzzles, games, codes & hieroglyphs...

Whilst it was up to them to decipher the physical Cube, it was their fans in the chat box that had to search the internet for answers and clues. It was here that we could create a universe for the show worthy of any 6 novel epic and let sci-fi fans explore.

All wrapped up in a break-neck speed, inter-tribal competition that created a live gameshow format for the twitch generation.

Consumer Behaviour & Insight:

Sci-fi fans are the most passionate in the galaxy! Loyal, vocal, super-savvy, critical and not easily satisfied. So we fused their need for immersive worlds & experiences with their love of games and a thirst information.

And why did we head to Twitch?

If sci-fi fans aren't watching sci-fi or talking about sci-f on reddit, they're gaming. With Tribes being a brand new show without existing source material to drum up interest, we wanted to get well-known twitch streamers involved who are talking to sci-fi fans every day on their channels. And if you're making a game(show), then you've come to the right place! We knew that the right idea would spark a genuine flurry of activity between streamer and their beloved chatbox; Real conversations about the show, much-needed support throughout the game, and ACTUAL HELP with what lay in store…

After drumming up support for their tribes on social all week, the influencers from Germany, Austria, Poland and the UK began the Race for The Cube on a Sunday in February LIVE on twitch.

Over the next 2 hours, fans would help their leaders negotiate the 6 sides of The Cube, each side a different puzzle.

Knowing their leader was without the internet, fans started searching the web and the world of Tribes; from alien dictionaries on Reddit to a jigsaw hidden in giphy, fans combed 2-hour rave videos on YouTube and scenes from the first episode on Netflix...

Influencers entered codes into a talking microsite, wired the cube to light up and drank mysterious shots, culminating in a build-your-own-trophy-race to be crowned the champion of Europa.

A lockdown-proof gameshow format to rival ANY Saturday night TV that took 3 months to create and over 50 people to realise. Epic.

Speaking of TV; the numbers rival gameshows off the telly! Our two hour stream welcomed over 700k views.

Remember these people aren't just passive viewers, but active players, they sent over 135k messages, 18 a second in a bid to help their leader win the race!

All in, The Race for The Cube amassed 3.3 million minutes watched, equating to 6.3 years of watch time. Sentiment was through the roof, particularly for a historically picky twitch community. Custom emotes were shared, memes were made and two rival tribe leaders started streaming together which we're claiming as a modern day love story.