The start of each year is a big deal for League of Legends, a key moment that can make or break the game’s $1B+ annual season. We face the challenge of energizing a player population the size of Italy at the precise moment we give them ample reason to quit: we reset their progression up the game’s competitive “ranked” ladder.

There are great reasons to wipe the slate clean. It’s the perfect time to introduce new content and acknowledge players for their achievements the year before. Still, starting “fresh” isn’t a compelling or even logical choice for all players, many of whom have put thousands of hours into the game—it’s an emotional one. Especially for fans who have found other games to call home.

Our question, then: how do you break through the endless alternatives in entertainment? How do you reconnect with players who are weary of seasonal ranks?

Our idea was an extension of our insight: players want to see themselves in their favorite characters on a new and purposeful climb. In theory, calling our characters back to arms and tasking them with a higher objective should bring League players back in force, too.

Enter “The Call,” a cinematic anthem to be “heard” and “answered” by characters and players alike, a story about a set of champions rising up to the challenge, facing adversity, and carrying the torch forward against the odds. And all in an easy-to-digest format, because with upwards of 200M players to reach, shareability and engagement is key.

To raise the emotional stakes and draw a parallel to players’ real-world experience during the global pandemic, we based the “The Call” on characters whose struggles are often overlooked—unsung heroes facing dire moments that push them to reveal who they are at their core.

Playing League of Legends is a commitment. It’s a complex game anchored around competition and the endless challenge that awaits during a new season. And still players log untold hours. Through their immense dedication, they create deep bonds with individual characters, forming an indelible partnership built on wild moments they will never forget.

And it was in that partnership between a player and their favorite champ that we found our insight: players’ rankings may reset each year, but their emotional connection does not. If anything, it grows stronger, to the point that they see a new climb up the rankings as a new story to tell with the characters they care most about.

Our strategy? Leverage this story of the climb, and players’ connection to storytelling overall, to drive engagement, to maximize share of voice, and to give fans a compelling reason to play League in 2022.

“The Call” uses hyper-realistic keyframe animation to bring the world of League to life. It’s a level of detail that stuns fans familiar with the game’s stylized look, imbuing a tangible reality to the characters and setting they have spent so long imagining.

Such fine detail turns each closeup into a devilish technical challenge. Animators layered techniques to accurately detail Pantheon’s hand as he climbs Mount Targon, requiring distinct workflows for sinews, muscles, skin sliding, blood flow, and flesh collision with the rock.

Another challenge involved realistic snowfall crucial to the believability of Sejuani’s mountain scene. The team developed a tool in Houdini to simulate snow withering and sticking to the characters, even on the elaborate geometries of groomed parts like the fur and mane of Sejuani’s boar mount.

All told, the detail, range of expression, and believability of the film’s animation connected players to its characters like never before.

“The Call” struck a mighty chord with the player base. Organic views just on YouTube are the equivalent of Australia’s population, making it a #1 global trending video on the platform. We saw an increase of 38% share of voice during the launch as players (both current and lapsed) passionately talked about it around the world.

Watch hours for League of Legends user-generated content on YouTube spiked 35%, setting a high for all of 2022. What matters the most, though, is welcoming back millions of players to the game’s opening day, achieving our ambitious goals. And fun fact: the champions that appeared in “The Call” saw an increase in play rates for months to come.