To catch the attention of gamers everywhere, we embraced the franchise’s unique blend of style, humor, and violence -- three things the Internet absolutely loves. Choose Your Hit offered the players a new type of twisted thrill: for the first time ever, they could choose which celebrity they wanted to kill in the game. Hollywood veterans Gary Cole (VEEP) and Gary Busey (Point Break) went head-to-head for the honor of dying at the player’s virtual hands, campaigning against one another in a series of online videos. The “winner” was then featured in their very own, fully-scripted HITMAN mission, much to the delight of Hitman fans and gaming influencers.

Timed with the spring launch of HITMAN, a kick-off video on Facebook and YouTube introduced our campaign and led people to a microsite that would house all of our upcoming content. With our content skewing mature, we leaned heavily on digital ad buys, PR, and organic pick-up (as well as the chance to kill a celebrity named Gary) to get fans and gamers excited and sharing. Over the next few weeks, each candidate released short videos on Facebook, Youtube, and our site, explaining why they’d make the better target. To vote, fans could use ChooseYourHit.com, or simply tweet #KillCOLE or #KillBUSEY. Once voting ended, a final video declared our winner. From there, we worked directly with the game’s developers, IO Interactive, to script a special downloadable mission starring Gary Busey as the target. During the summer, our mission was released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Our mission, titled “The Wild Card”, quickly became Hitman’s most played Elusive Target mission. Busey’s best in-game moments -- which included exorcising a demon and serenading a prospective lover -- were immortalized by fans and influencers in social posts, YouTube videos, memes, and Twitch streams. Our campaign helped HITMAN amass 861 million impressions. We achieved our media objectives as well, securing broader coverage from influential culture sites like Mashable and the A.V. Club. And we helped show the benefits of the new distribution model by letting fans influence upcoming content. But most importantly, Choose Your Hit accomplished something much greater than generating positive word of mouth or brand affinity. It gave people an urgent and compelling reason to purchase the game: killing Gary Busey.