By 2022, VALORANT had built a global community with millions of players around the world. An easy path to engagement might have entailed releasing more Agents from recognizable locations: London, Los Angeles, Tokyo. But players exist everywhere, so Riot continued the world tour with their nineteenth Agent, Neon, hailing from the Philippines.

That prompted a question: How to make a culture that is underrepresented in global entertainment resonate with players around the world? This is especially important for Agent launches, when players are most engaged with VALORANT. Moreover, Riot Games had ambitious goals for Neon: 80-90% positive player sentiment, 55-60% player intent to try, and 5.5-6.5M average daily active players.

To reach these goals and fulfill VALORANT’s brand promise, we had to not only tell an authentic Filipino story, but one that resonated with players who were previously uninvested with the Philippines or its heroes.

Home is always with you.

Neon’s launch campaign showed players how difficult it was for her to move away from the Philippines to join VALORANT, but also that she could find comfort by never leaving her heritage behind. In her release trailer, we showcased authentic Filipino culture, including items you’d find in a teenage Filipina’s room, from a picture of an Askal to a Team Pilipinas jersey on the wall to a Walis Tambo.

We also embodied the region by partnering with VO artist and Manilla native, Vanille Velasquez. She led the conversation at launch, talking to players about how meaningful it was to her and Filipino players to bring their culture to a globally popular game. At the same time, we partnered with Filipina artist Ylona Garcia and 88Rising to launch a new track for the trailer, adding an additional element of authentic expression to Neon’s release.

Every person experiences the anxiety and sadness of unfamiliarity.

A common Filipino experience is having to move away from the Philippines for the first time to find work, a necessity for financial growth. It creates a painful disconnect from family and home. Neon had to leave her home country, too, so she could realize her full power and help to save the world.

Our insight lay in tracing this local necessity to a universal experience relatable to the global player base. While only a fraction of players are from the Philippines or familiar with Filipino culture, most relate to having to leave a school to start at a new one, or to moving from one city to the next. That gave us an anchor to show Filipino players that Riot deeply understands them, as well as a broader platform to ensure millions of players around the world could connect, too.

Players in the Philippines loved the trailer and character’s authenticity. There was a 55% increase in active player count in the region, a 146% increase in returning players, and an 86% increase in revenue.

Crucially, this resonance extended beyond the Philippines, with Neon’s release driving VALORANT to new all-time highs across a number of our engagement and business goals. Globally, we saw a 56% increase in active player count, a 62% increase in returning players, and a 160% increase in revenue.

More importantly, Neon’s launch sparked 90%+ positive player sentiment and player intent to try the new Agent. It resulted in comments like: “Neon feels so familiar to me. She speaks Tagalog & English, she calls her family overseas. She collects cute plushies, jams out, and decorates her room to look like the Philippines’ beaches. Like home. This is the Filipino mainstream video game rep we needed.”