When the opportunity to work on the all-new videogame based on Cartoon Network’s hit series Ben 10 arose, we were beyond excited to take on the challenge. Hyping a licensed game title targeted towards kids and families is never an easy feat, but with a powerhouse franchise like Ben 10, we knew we had something special to work with. Teaming up with Outright Games and the game’s U.S. distributor, U&I Entertainment, we took a decidedly measured approach as we had a very small window from announce to launch – just 2 months! Hitting family-friendly consumer press and influencers was our priority to reach the game’s target audience.
After Outright Games announced the game on their own in the summer, we pushed to reintroduce the game to North American press with a U.S. focused press release. We created a succinct fact sheet and press kit with assets to accompany the release, offering press a “first look” and more details about the game. Our outreach locked in coverage with Bleeding Cool News, License Global, and Toon Zone, among others.
From there we focused our efforts on the various family-friendly influencers across YouTube and Twitch to get them engaged and ready to get their hands-on the game at launch. At this point, no one had seen the game in action. With no more than some screenshots, a fact sheet and launch trailer, we were able to secure interest from more than a dozen influencers. We distributed game codes to all and continued to fulfill additional requests as they came in once the game was live. We worked closely with influencers to answer questions as they worked to post multiple video’s including “Let’s Play’s” on launch day and beyond.
With the understanding that kid’s licensed games don’t review well with core gaming sites, we limited our review outreach to a select group of media who we knew would give the game a fair shake. We secured launch and review coverage with targeted sites including The Switch Effect, Family-Friendly Gaming and DualShockers, among others.
Ben 10 is just the first of many upcoming game titles from Outright Games and U&I Entertainment targeted towards the family-friendly gaming audience. We’re looking forward to sharing more details very soon!