Activision Blizzard is a global gaming publisher behind franchises including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch. To scale game installs across its franchise portfolio while improving acquisition efficiency, Activision Blizzard ran a 75-day global performance campaign on NEXUS.
The campaign targeted gaming audiences worldwide across mobile, console, and PC platforms, with a focus on reducing cost per acquisition while maintaining install volume at scale.
Campaign Objective and Setup
The objective of the campaign was to drive large-scale game installs across multiple franchises while optimizing cost efficiency across global gaming markets.
Over a 75-day period, Activision Blizzard allocated $1.5 million in ad spend, activating franchise-based campaigns designed to reach gamers already engaged with competitive, multiplayer, and RPG/MMO gaming experiences.
Audience Targeting Across Competitive Gaming Segments
The campaign targeted mobile gamers and Web3 gamers with demonstrated interest in PC and console gaming, as well as RPG and MMO genres. These audiences showed consistent engagement with competitive gameplay, progression-based mechanics, and multiplayer environments.
By focusing on gamers already invested in similar gameplay formats, the campaign captured high-intent users more likely to install and engage with Activision Blizzard titles.
Cross-Platform Campaign Execution
Creative and messaging emphasized seamless progression across mobile, console, and PC platforms. This cross-platform positioning expanded the addressable audience while reinforcing long-term engagement opportunities for players active across multiple devices.
Unified messaging across platforms ensured continuity while allowing each channel to support installs within its native environment.
Global Market Localization
The campaign deployed localized executions across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific markets. Messaging and creative formats were adapted to regional gaming behaviors, platform preferences, and cultural expectations to improve relevance and engagement.
This regional optimization supported scale without sacrificing performance consistency across markets.
Franchise-Led Creative Strategy
The campaign leveraged the recognition of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch to capture immediate attention and reduce friction in the install decision. Franchise-led creatives accelerated engagement and allowed the campaign to achieve lower acquisition costs compared to non-branded approaches.
Campaign Results
Over the 75-day campaign period, the following results were recorded:
- 700,000+ total conversions from verified game installs
- $2.15 cost per acquisition, representing a 55% reduction compared to previous campaigns
- 96.2 million impressions across global gaming and entertainment platforms
- 4.1% click-through rate across franchise campaigns
These results demonstrated the ability to scale installs while significantly improving cost efficiency.
Observations
The campaign showed that combining franchise recognition with cross-platform execution can deliver both scale and efficiency in global gaming acquisition. By targeting gamers already engaged in competitive and progression-based experiences and localizing delivery by region, the campaign achieved high-volume installs while reducing acquisition costs by more than half.
This case demonstrates how NEXUS enables large gaming publishers to execute franchise-led acquisition strategies that balance reach, relevance, and cost control across global markets.
