MORTAL KOMBAT
Client
NetherRealm Studios
Studio's best-selling launch in history. 7 Clio Awards. The community tripled to 6 million on Facebook alone.
As in-house Lead Creative Director at NetherRealm, I led the creative across multiple major releases including Mortal Kombat X, Mortal Kombat Mobile, the 25th Anniversary, Mortal Kombat 11, and Mortal Kombat 1.
The Challenge: The Mortal Kombat community is one of the most dedicated and savvy in gaming. They can spot inauthentic, "corporate" marketing from a mile away. Creating cultural moments that earn their respect is harder than launching the game itself.
The Insight: Stop marketing at our fans and start talking with them. Our strategy was to shift our entire creative approach from a traditional broadcast to an authentic, daily conversation happening inside the community itself. Changing the tone and voice on all our channels to something fun, relevant and that says "We are FUCKING Mortal Kombat"
The Results:
✱ Both MK1 and MK11 became the most successful launches in NetherRealm's history.
✱ Mortal Kombat X ranked in the top 10 best-selling games of its year across all WB titles, and MK11 became one of the top five best-selling games of 2019.
✱ We tripled our Facebook following to 6 million and saw record-breaking engagement across all social platforms.
The Road to MK11 and MK1: The success of MK11 didn't happen in a vacuum. It was the result of years of listening and learning from the community across other franchise touchpoints. With Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat Mobile, we tested and refined the community-first approach that would become our blueprint. The 25th Anniversary campaign was a chance to honor the brand's heritage and celebrate the fans who had been with us from the beginning, strengthening the bond that made the MK11 launch possible.
AWARDS:
Clio: 2 Gold, 6 Silver, 1 Bronze
Promax: 2 Gold
