Korea ranks fourth in the global gaming market based on revenue, making it a massive market where numerous game marketing competitions unfold. While the Diablo series gained sensational popularity in Korea for the past two decades, as of 2023, there was a need for a new strategy to attract a target audience unaware of its popularity. With the rapid growth of the mobile gaming market, dominated by small-scale and simple yet easy-to-play games, a powerful campaign was required to attract mobile game players into the profound world of Diablo IV.

Korea's younger generation passionately engages with various brands, including fashion, food, and games, through experiential spaces like pop-up stores. If the value of an experience is guaranteed, they tend to become enthusiastic fans of new or rare brands, making purchases based on their brand loyalty. Leveraging such insights, Diablo IV aimed to attract the experience-seeking target audience by creating Hell Station, reproducing the game’s main world ‘Hell’ in real life at the abandoned subway station.

The subway, where over 70% of mobile gamers play games and annual ridership is 1.7 billion, proved to be the best location to attract the target audience. Through collaboration with the Seoul Metro, Diablo IV transformed a station that abandoned for over 30 years into a marketing experiential space that brings the universe of Diablo IV into the real life. The transformation leads to the influx of subway mobile game users by successfully conveying a sense of both fear and curiosity, bringing forth the Hell to the subway, the most familiar space used daily.

'Hell Station’ which brought the game’s universe to life included the Cultist Refuge, Altars of Lilith, and the Altar of Cleansing, in the forbidden space of a ghost subway station. Users who experienced the unrealistic hell beneath the familiar subway station were immersed in the world of Diablo IV, as if they were one of the game’s characters. Various content including pseudo-documentaries, influencer videos, VR contetns, microsites, and digital billboards were created for the fans who were unable to experience the ‘Hell Station’ in person, building hype around Diablo IV both online and offline.

-Total Number of Hell Station Participants more than 200,000 people

-Total Earned Media View 11,452,965 (*News media, Youtube, social media combined)

-Ranked 2nd Most Popular Game in internet game room in 7 days

-News Reports Including KBS and OBS + 130

-Naver’s Monthly Search Volume for Yeongdeungpo Market Station increased by 310%

-Intent to Play Diablo IV 93%