Considering that the franchise has earned $10 billion worldwide to date across a number of releases, there’s no question that Call of Duty means big bucks to Activision. And now, according to Adweek, the company is set to launch a huge campaign for the latest chapter in the series, Advanced Warfare, which will launch for various game consoles next week.
Along with TV advertisements, the company will also provide a number of promotional tie-ins with the series. This should be no surprise, as previous games in the past had similar campaigns. And it’s pretty native to Activision, since advertising plays a huge part when it comes to hype.
“It’s been a huge learning experience and very satisfying to be working on a creative product further upstream,” said Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg, speaking about its effects. “In advertising, all you get to do is influence the message and the way a product is positioned and communicated. But as we know from the ad business, a lot of times there isn’t something special or differentiating baked into the product itself. And this is a chance for me to influence that and make sure that the things that we were actually launching were created different before communication ever began.”
Ever since the decision came around to release games in the series on a yearly basis, the three studios involved – Treyarch, Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games – have always pushed for the “bigger and better” approach. This year’s example, Advanced Warfare, could be the biggest yet, not only involving a futuristic storyline that shies away from today’s modern combat, but also the work of Academy Award winning actor Kevin Spacey, who appears in the game as power-hungry Jonathan Irons.
This obviously isn’t the first time that Hollywood talent has been involved with the series – last year’s entry Ghosts was written by Syriana screenwriter Stephen Gaghan, and 2012’s Black Ops II ad featured a number of stars, including Robert Downey Jr. – but it goes to show just how serious Sledgehammer Games is when it comes to making the content “gel” just right for Call of Duty fans, especially after some felt a little turned off by what last year’s Ghosts had to offer.
When it comes to Spacey’s involvement, Hirshberg stated, “He’s a guy who’s done some really enterprising things in terms of getting involved with different media. Doing a high-quality HBO-style show for Netflix is now a no-brainer; when he did it, it was a huge zag and unheard of.”
Hirshberg believes the partnership with the actor also pays off on both ends. “We put him in front of a new audience who might not be familiar with some of his iconic films in another situation where he’s trailblazing, being an actor on his level, a two-time Oscar winner in a completely new medium,” he says.
Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz also believes the futuristic theme will play a huge part. “It’s futuristic and there’s a greater emphasis on mobility in the player versus player, and Call of Duty lives and dies on the player versus player,” he says. But the quality of the new title, he adds, might not matter. “It’s hard to get people to come back even if you do a better job this time around. If my friends have moved on to something else, I’m going to play that.”
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare launches on November 4th for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. The launch trailer for the game is below.
