We must set the bar out of reach. Realizing that Special Operators are an incredibly unique and niche audience, the best way to understand the mindset was to go straight to the source. After witnessing Special Operations indoctrination and conducting interviews with trainees one thing became abundantly clear—the only way to survive and persevere was to have the mental fortitude to push beyond your own limits. Those who succeed have, “a mentality that cannot be seen by a recruiter on a day-to-day basis. It only comes out when they are pushed beyond their limits, and you see it in their face. The look of “I will never quit!’”

In a time when marketers are doing everything in their power to make things easy for the customer, we had to make things hard. Only those who can rise to a challenge will succeed.

Nightfall is a first-of-its-kind VR experience for PSVR made available for free to all PSVR gamers. The game was developed in conjunction with a high-impact media plan featuring the game and as well as existing campaign content. In the game, users get to experience HALO jump training school and what it’s like to jump out of a plane at 30,000 feet.

Air Force Special Ops Nightfall reached 83,900 downloads in just the first two weeks and topped over 160,000 downloads in five weeks. More than 50MM impressions were delivered to potential recruits teasing or heralding the game’s release. We saw more than 3,000 social engagements in those first two weeks and more than 90 examples of user-generated videos demoing the game on YouTube, resulting in 500,000 earned views.

And averaging almost 15 minutes per session, it out-performed all other PlayStation VR games released last summer. And most importantly, there was a 203% increase in new Special Operators joining the Air Force compared to the prior year.