How tactical FPS Ready or Not became #3 most watched on Twitch upon full release
RESULTS
#3 on Twitch
Third most popular game on Twitch on the launch day
5,1M hours watched
20k unique creators - 230k concurrent peak watchers on Twitch
21M video views
AAA-level viewership on YouTube in the first 30 days
Company overview
An Ireland-based game development company dedicated to cultivating a collaborative and flourishing work environment. Operating entirely remotely with flat hierarchies, they unite industry veterans and emerging talent to bring thought-provoking games to life.
Game overview
Ready or Not is an intense, tactical, first-person shooter that depicts a modern-day world in which SWAT police units are called to defuse hostile and confronting situations.
VOID Interactive's first game Ready or Not was a chart-topper, garnering 1.5 million views on Twitch during the first 24 hours after launch. It wasn't a fluke. The small remote team at VOID Interactive had many factors working against them but a successful creator launch campaign propelled their game to become one of the most watched games in the world 2023.
While VOID Interactive firmly believed that working with the creators was the best way to go about this strategy, they had their qualms. Connecting with the right creators who would be willing to work within the budget, considering the tight timeline, was the biggest challenge for VOID. Compared to an elaborate strategy spread out through the calendar, the 3-month burst marketing called for a bigger budget to convince quality creators.
"You need to take into account that you won’t be able to work budget efficiently on time constraints. When you need something done in a shorter time, you have to pay more. But I’m impressed that Lurkit was able to navigate that challenge.”
Behrad Sabet, Head of Marketing @VOID Interactive
With only a small team, VOID still aimed for AAA-level visibility. After being in early access for almost two years, Ready Or Not had already reached a niche audience that lived and breathed FPS. However, the developer aimed to dominate Twitch and Steam charts and form a solid footing in the shooter genre with its first title, Ready Or Not.
"Our main goal was making this burst, but if you go for the burst, then I want to make sure that for these 24 hours, we have a AAA level of visibility. Therefore, you need to get in the top 5 categories of Twitch”
The Solution:
Rather than burdening the marketing team, which was composed of just three individuals at the time, VOID Interactive sought a one-stop-shop. The budgeting and time problems were both effectively addressed by leveraging Lurkit's platform, thereby streamlining operations for the marketing team and ensuring a successful creator program launch.
"To have Lurkit now is to have the best of both worlds. You have this self-serving system where you set up your campaigns, recruit your own talent and have a retention-based creator program. But you also have dedicated support at your fingertips to manage large and global campaigns. From outreach to negotiation, you know all of that stuff"
In a short time, VOID had applications from skilled streamers interested in trying out their game. At one point, the small marketing team at VOID had one too many applications.
At the same time, VOID leveraged Lurkit’s customer success team to save considerable time by streamlining the process of contacting large creators individually, vetting them, negotiating, and setting up tasks.
Leveraging Lurkit’s Creator Program to build a creator community
VOID Interactive believes creator marketing is the most impactful way to reach a larger audience in a short time. The studio's marketing head, Behrad Sabet says he always trusted in the power on content creator marketing since he himself has been forged in the Twitch community. To execute his plan of an all-out launch, Behrad looked at content creators, and that’s where Lurkit comes in full power.
Lurkit’s creator program allows marketers to manage vast amounts of creators with little effort because of the platform technology it has built. In a short time, the VOID Interactive marketing team had a long list of able creators looking to partner with them. From nano to macro streamers, the pool of potential candidates overflowed with talent.
"There was this one funny anecdote that I always tell people. I think we had 7,500 applications from creators, and three days before the release, I blocked the whole evening and brought the backlog down to 4,000. And then I went to sleep and returned to my PC, and we were already back to 6,500"
Click the image above to see Ready or Not Creator Program in action
The Results
#3 on Twitch
Third most popular game on Twitch on launch day
1.5M
Hours watched on Twitch on launch day
5,1M
Hours watched on Twitch in 30 days after release
21M
Views on YouTube in 30 days after release
227k
Concurrent viewers peak on Twitch
55k
Concurrent players peak on Steam
Combined with Lurkit's platform, AAA-level campaign management and VOID's efforts in plating the best product in a short time, the reception of Ready or Not has been more than excellent in the gaming community. They also were able to overachieve on the budget by letting Lurkit’s team scout and negotiate with the largest creators and their representatives.
VOID Interactive continues to use Lurkit actively and deploy both paid and organic campaigns during sales events and/or when they're releasing new DLCs for Ready or Not. In fact, the studio recently released a new DLC called Dark Waters which sits at over %82 positive rate on Steam with over 600 reviews already.
.jpeg)
