MOBA CONQUERS CULTURE IN PARTS OF THE WORLD OUTSIDE GAMING
Year: 2017
Client: Tencent Games
Agency: Droga5
Role: Assassin
Mage: Fati Jafri, Max Friedman
Fighter: Mitchell Quesada, Dan Litzow
Tank: Albie Elroy
Marksman: Neil Heymann
Project Duration: 6 Months
Status: Victory, Tower Defeated, New Business Unlocked
Note: The new business was unlocked through these slides. But the game was ultimately launched in the US by Tencent's in-house team.
王者荣耀 now known as King of Glory is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mobile game developed and published by Tencent Games China. With an estimated 200 million monthly players in Asia, Tencent planned to bring the game to America.
The goal was to establish the brand as a cultural phenomenon by transforming mass audience awareness to download and engage and energize noobs and hardcore gamers.
I was responsible for the Five Strike As One creative territory, which was based on the five different strategic roles needed to play the game. We renamed the game FORCE5 for an American audience.
By utilizing a strong, consistent color palette, the game will be instantly recognizable across culture, and encourage players to identify with the colors and classes they choose to play with their friends. We also tapped into different parts of American culture outside of gaming: sports, music, food, art and fashion. The manifesto was presented in video form by editing together famous teams. ↓
Maaaaany rounds later, the name of the game changed to Arena of Champions. Don’t Fight That Fighting Feeling became the creative territory.
The manifesto and art direction expressed the “fight feeling” in dramatic, hyperreal ways that transformed ordinary moments into extraordinary ones that were inspired by the game. With the manifesto and art direction locked, another team worked on films while I worked on activations. ↓
Still, reading?
Here’s a random fact. Space smells like seared steak.
Collaboration & Communication
One team developed the Fightsville territory, which centered on a small town where fighting was a regular occurrence, and Bruce Willis served as the mayor LOLLLL. Although I didn’t own the territory, I was eager to contribute because I believe in setting an example to inspire teams to collaborate effectively, despite the competitive nature of the industry. As a result, we created a town anthem and a beauty pageant for Fightsville.
Learnings
Over a period of 6 months, we worked late into the night and early morning hours. Although the slides were beautiful, we could’ve achieved similar results by reducing the number of scripts and activations per territory. Moving forward, I learned to work efficiently under time constraints and present just enough work for clients to digest our ideas while also maintaining a healthier work-life balance.
Culture Report
After departing from Tencent, I’d continue to immerse myself in gaming. These activations pushed League of Legends into parts of the world outside of gaming:
Riot launched a series of music groups (Pentakill, True Damage, K/DA) to promote in-game skins of the “band.”
In 2019, luxury met esports with the release of a Louis Vuitton trophy case and in-game skins. This was not the first collaboration between Louis Vuitton and a gaming franchise, having previously worked with Final Fantasy XIII in 2016.
In that same year, non-MOBA games like NBA 2K20 partnered with Nike to create exclusive sneakers for gamers that were both physical and digital.
NOTHING GOT MADE.
The new business was successfully unlocked through these slides, but the game was ultimately launched in the US by Tencent's in-house team. We stayed resilient for 6 months, and we still had a lot of fun.
