The Top 10 Gaming Marketing Campaigns Using Influencer & Social Media Marketing

Elden Ring: Night reign

Red Bull teamed up with FromSoftware to showcase the new spinoff from the industry-defining Elden Ring series ‘Nightreign’. The Red Bull event ‘Lancation’ saw nine streamers gain exclusive early access to the game, for an evening of bloody challenge in three teams of three.

By grouping streamers that ranged from Fextralife (1.6M) to Emiru (1.8M) and MissMikkaa (475K) into co-op squads, audiences could enjoy seeing unique personalities and gaming styles play off each other. Not only that, but it was a great demonstration of Nightreign’s exceptional co-op potential.

As well as a whole range of fun influencer-led shorts & TikToks around the event, Red Bull Gaming made use of the vast array of hilarious or tense gameplay moments during the streams through cutdowns across TikTok.

World of Warcraft: The War Within

World of Warcraft handed Goat Agency the reins when it came to boosting awareness and driving purchase intent across the UK / Nordics for their new “War Within” expansion. 

Not all users engage with gaming content, including the large ‘casual’ contingent of the gaming market. We recognised the untapped potential of working with gaming adjacent creators who produce content around arts & crafts, music, and cosplay, so we identified and engaged a range of creators to do just that.

Enlisted creators included popular Twitch streamers like @MissMikkaa and @Strippin alongside creative talents like @Nerdforge (art) and @JamesBruton (STEM). 

Phase one of the campaign teased “The War Within”, featuring the expansion’s villain, Xal’atath, tempting creators to join her and become a denizen of the void.

Phase two paired “The War Within” with each creator’s unique content styles, with Nerdforge challenging themselves with a dual painting on a single canvas, while another created an electronic interpretation of the “Dark Heart” . The final element was a Collector’s Edition giveaway, rewarding users in these non-gaming verticals with exclusive gaming prizes. 

With 72 pieces of content across major platforms, we achieved 631K engagements at a 7% engagement rate (vs. a 4% average). That’s on top of an impressive 90% positive sentiment, with collaborative creativity plugged into the world of WoW really catching audience attention.

F1 25

EA Sports’ “F1 25” dropped across PS5, Xbox and PC, to critical acclaim for its ultrarealistic graphics and absolute dedication to faithful simulation for an ever-growing global community of F1 fans.

To celebrate the game’s launch and demonstrate just what it’s capable of, EA Sports pulled out all the stops. Who better than seven-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton to get behind the controller and take his in-game self for a spin?

With professional footballer and good friend Kylian Mbappé in another driver’s seat next to him, these two had a great time going head-to-head and putting the laps in – with Mbappé ultimately teaching the pro a thing or two!

Lewis Hamilton was outraged that his in-game pit team took over 3 seconds, saying “My team doesn’t do 3.3. They do 2 seconds.” It was moments like these that fans in the comments loved to pick up on, discussing real-world pit stop performance and enjoying a hero of the sport playing the game (who was blown away by the amazing graphics, down to blades of grass sticking to the wheels).

Diablo x Beserk

This year, the demon-filled world of Diablo Immortal fused with cult-classic dark fantasy manga “Berserk”, resulting in the crossover so many fans have been waiting for. This is a case study in the power of creative cross-pollination that’s really designed for fans, bringing together parts of different verticals that share the same spirit.

What better way to celebrate than to invite fans to get involved in a creative feast all of their own? With a giveaway of limited-edition Xbox Berserk + Diablo Immortal personalized controllers to win, players were invited to submit their best artistic and cosplay creations that spoke to the spirit of the collaboration.

As the new update is all about limited-time access to Berserk-inspired Skins, Eclipse based Game Modes, and a new Boss fight with Zodd, this social-led giveaway really added to the sense of exclusivity, priming players up to dive into the world and get collecting.

Google x Pokémon

Google and Pokémon partnered up for Easter 2025, turning the Google Search browser into a Pokédex through which fans could search out and catch all 151 original Pokémon.

This nostalgic, fun adventure is a respectful nod to old school fans of the series, as well as a great way to reconnect newer fans with the roots of Pokémon.

With each user’s progress recorded in their browser, users had a great time sharing their progress on socials and comparing notes. This campaign depended entirely on organic community content to keep that fun, simple feel, because that’s all they needed.

The Google Pokédex Easter Egg Hunt got great organic traction across the community, driving people onto the Google App and offering them real value as gaming fans for doing so.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG that found immediate acclaim for its compelling narrative, gorgeous graphics and art style, plus a high level of challenge that exemplifies the current trend for high-difficulty, boss-oriented games.

As well as exceptional ratings across OpenCritic, Matacritic and Steam, it garnered more than 1.1 million hours of hours watched on Twitch in its early days – placing it 8th for both total hours watched and peak viewership. How did a narrative driven RPG place so highly in the stream charts against incumbent genres like shooters and battle royales?

Publishing studio Kepler Interactive put over $200k into influencer marketing, mainly Twitch-based, strategically partnering up with a range of leading and rising star streamers in the run up to and after its release. This investment yielded results on launch day that included Saqib ‘’LIRIK’’ Ali Zahid with over 22,000 concurrent watchers, and FrankieLollia – who topped out with a peak viewership of over 9,000.

FIFA Rivals

FIFA Rivals is the official, fast-paced, arcade style game for football fans on mobile. With live PvP matches where users can face off with their dream teams, FIFA Rivals also has an in-game economy for earning and trading collectibles, as well as a blockchain-powered marketplace for buying, selling and trading players.

To celebrate its release, FIFA Rivals challenged creators and players to take their best shot at capturing awesome gameplay content or creating art inspired by the game, with a range of prizes ranging from the 25/26 shirt of their favorite club to varying amounts of in-game currency. 

Monopoly Go! x Six Nation Rugby

Monopoly Go made marketing history this year by becoming the first ever mobile-games partner for Six Nation Rugby. Not only did their logo find pride of place on the pitch, but they took on rugby treasure Matt Dawson as their newest ambassador.

He took to the Sports Gazette to chat about the connectivity-boosting potential of mobile games like Monopoly Go!, as well as putting out day-in-the-life content on Instagram. With content published through his own channel, he took users along with him on a day of TV interviews, kick-abouts and of course – many games of Monopoly Go! In-between.

The Sims 

The Sims has been one of the definitive, all-time greats of videogaming for a long time – 25 years in fact. While so many other games have faded into obscurity, The Sims has continued to be a vital part of internet culture: not only through jokes and memes, but YouTube challenge videos, viral TikToks and vibrant fan communities.

EA marked the occasion with a star-studded 25-hour livestream, headlined by long-time Sims fan and celebrity influencer partner Doja Cat (alongside a slew of other celebs and creators).

Not only a mammoth event by streaming standards, it’s also a collaboration that epitomizes what The Sims is all about. This is a game that can be played by anyone, from everyday gamers to 21x award-winning musicians.

Pokémon 

Pokémon is a classic series that has no trouble staying timelessly relevant, with the brand’s efforts to build a thriving eSports scene playing a major role in this continued success. The Pokémon World Championship moves from strength to strength each year, hitting a whopping 123K peak viewership in 2024, and 2025 was no exception.

Pokémon are making every effort to cultivate an almost F1 style fanbase around the eSport, recognising that it’s the human stories – the hopes, dreams, rise or fall of fan-favourite players – which are the beating heart of the championship’s success. 

In-depth YouTube documentaries give old fans the chance to get closer with their favourite eSportspeople and introduce new people to the game, all the while building huge hype for the next tournament. That’s backed up by social cuts across Instagram and TikTok, deftly paired with fresh updates and announcements of upcoming battles.

How brands can leverage the Gamerverse in 2025

‘Gamers’ aren’t a single consumer bloc

The gaming world is incredibly vast and complex. It’s not a case of building a strategy to “target gamers” – as our podcast episode above discusses, there are so many different sub communities and genres of games. 

What one sub-community loves, another may hate, mock, or just not ‘get’. You really need to be clear about who you want to target and have a deep understanding of their world. 

Stand out by cross-pollinating

Niche crossover cultures and communities are a great way to escape the current gaming echo chamber. 

Take our WoW campaign: we didn’t want to just speak to existing WoW fans who were likely to buy the expansion pack anyway. Partnering with a variety of creators who have crossover with games like WoW was a way to speak to lapsed players, plugging them back into the world, as well as a whole new swathe of new players.

Press start on your gaming influencer marketing campaigns

Successful integration of brands into the gaming industry through influencer and social media marketing is the ultimate power up. Each of the campaigns above is a masterclass in engaging with gaming audiences, leveraging content creators, collaborations, and immersive experiences. 

As the gaming industry continues to grow and evolve, brands can capitalize on this immense potential by embracing gaming as a platform for marketing innovation, interactive engagement, and brand expansion.

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To learn more about gaming marketing or how to market on gaming-centric platforms like Twitch and YouTube, check out our platform guides. If you’re looking for help with your brand’s gaming marketing campaign, get in touch.