Ubisoft Canada is hitting the road. The games-maker is hosting a series of gaming tournaments across the country to promote the upcoming releases of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege.
The national competition kicked off late last month in Montreal and will continue with stops in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, ahead of the game’s release on Dec 1. At each event, the winning team will win a trip to Toronto for the tournament finals on Nov. 5.
This is the first time Ubisoft has produced a gaming tournament for the Canadian market. Ubisoft Canada marketing director Lucile Bousquet said the tournament was designed to build buzz by giving fans a chance to play the game ahead of its release.
In Montreal, the line-up for the event started hours before it was scheduled to begin, with the franchise’s hardcore fans clamouring to test out the game. In total, Ubisoft saw a capacity crowd of about 400 attendees and expects similar numbers in other cities.
The goal of the tournament for Ubisoft is to drive pre-orders, which are essential to the success of a title and the perception of its release. For Rainbow Six Siege, it’s also crucial Ubisoft galvanizes the franchise’s fans to gain early word-of-mouth. The last major franchise release was in 2008 and Ubisoft now has to prove to gamers the Rainbow Six brand is still relevant and worthy of attention.
Bousquet called the new game the “rebirth of the franchise,” which comes with big expectations. “People are saying, ‘OK, it’s coming back…’ they want to see it and they want to be convinced of the quality of the game and see if the features and gameplay stay true to the franchise.”
“We have to show them the Rainbow Six franchise is still alive.”
How a beta release is setting the stage for Rainbow Six’s official launch
The only way to prove the game’s quality is through trial, which Ubisoft is doing in a number of ways. In addition to the tournament, it hosted hundreds of consumers at both Montreal Comic Con in July and Fan Expo Canada in Toronto earlier this month. At Fan Expo, which is a magnet for the gaming and comic set (127,000 attended in 2014), fans could test out the game or pick up a promo code for an online beta trial.
In total, Ubisoft is opening up the trial to 200,000 Canadians. So far, Bousquet said nearly 50% of the promo codes have been redeemed. The beta group will provide Ubisoft’s development team the data they need to make final tweaks to the game and respond to how real consumers play it in real time. And, at the first tournament, the company’s Montreal-based group of developers met with fans to solicit feedback.
Later in the promotional cycle, a digital-focused media buy will kick in with display ads and digital video including trailers created specifically for the Canadian market.
North Strategic handled PR, CZAR Media handled experiential and BBR developed creative.
