The approach was to build a game with a team of amateur developers over the course of 100 days leading up to the Eurogamer Expo (which Virgin Media were sponsoring) where the game would be launched. Using the Eurogamer community to help build the content, then releasing for free on iOS and Android stores.

We pull the call out for game concepts through a network of University seeding. The winning team as decided by our panel of industry experts and luminaries was Surface Tension Studios. Their game: Superfluid.

Through partnerships with University of Abertay and Dare to Be Digital, Surface Tension were given access to everything they’d need to build their game, including desks in a leading development studio and regular mentoring support.

Through a media deal tied into the sponsorship, Eurogamer readers were invited to participate in the game’s development by helping to make decisions over the game’s direction.

We saw huge increases in brand image and consideration measures amongst those exposed to the campaign, demonstrating that we’d succeeded at both resonating with gamers both committed and casual, and shifting their perception of the brand.

Amongst the exposed audience:

Consideration for Virgin Media increased by 24%.

Advocacy for VM improved, with NPS increasing by a huge 62 Points.

Brand/Product measures also improved:

+24% shift in ‘First choice for Broadband’.

+31% shift in ‘Having credibility in Gaming’.

The game itself was a huge success:

45,000 downloads on the App store / Google Play.

Over 55,000 people helped shape the game.