After a lackluster reception to the launch of Battlefield V, players no longer believed that Battlefield was the franchise it once was, so Battlefield 2042 had the added weight of convincing naysayers that it was a return to the innovative and exciting First-Person Shooter (FPS) it had become known for.

The brief was to deliver the biggest gaming Reveal of the year in 2021, right in the midst of the summer reveal season, with the FPS market having an incredibly competitive year featuring both the release of a new Call of Duty title and the return of fan favorite Halo. To ensure the success of Battlefield 2042, driving distinctiveness, excitement and belief with current and potential players was of paramount importance.

Objective:

Drive industry-wide awareness and conversation around Battlefield’s return as a stand-out blockbuster FPS. Get veterans and new players to believe that Battlefield was back (sentiment).

Historically, the ‘Only in Battlefield Moments (#OIBM) created the most elation and pride from our community, both in their own feats and the accomplishments of others. This insight led us to the idea of extending the player agency and ingenuity that existed in the game, to outside for the first time, by showcasing and celebrating those feats of our players in our marketing. We reached out to the community to find the most epic and applauded #OIBM moments through the years and connected it to this new installment in the franchise. We recreated the biggest, boldest and best of those #OIBM moments that our players pulled off into the reveal trailer of Battlefield 2042 as a showcase of what was possible in the game, a salute to our community, making our players feel like the heroes they are.

Battlefield is often referred to as a ‘sandbox FPS’ because of the player agency it offers with its vast tool set and how players use that to overcome the challenges they encounter. Our players have taken ownership of that agency, pulling off extraordinary feats that they refer to as ‘Only In Battlefield moments’ (#OIBM). It’s these moments that demonstrate the ingenuity and creativity of our players and that Battlefield was the only FPS that truly gave them the freedom to pull off the unexpected.

Our strategy centered around making heroes of our community so they could once again create their own 'holy sh*t' moments on the Battlefield. Our Strategy, Thrive In Chaos, celebrated the player as engineers of ingenuity, demonstrating that there is not just one way to win on this new chaotic battlefield of the future, with bigger maps and an all new futuristic arsenal.

Our Reveal Trailer has amassed 55 million views, with 39 million views in the first week, and an unprecedented 1 million people watching live. We trended #1 on YouTube in 12 countries and Battlefield 2042 saw the biggest Reveal of the summer, becoming one of the most anticipated games for the year with 39% share of conversation. Earned media had approximately 3,416 hits globally, with a potential reach of 150.65M unique visitors per day.

We also saw a strong impact in our community with positive sentiment for Battlefield at 88, +12 pts lift on previous weekly average, and over 50,000 Messages were posted in the Battlefield Discord during the reveal. There were also over 350k views from over 74 co-streamers who live streamed the reveal to their followers.