Diablo III on Nintendo Switch
Blizzard, 2018
Franchise Communications Lead, Europe
Brought Diablo III on Switch to European media with two touring chests of consoles, instead of flying journalists to a US preview.
Problem
Introduce a six-year-old game to a new audience in November, the busiest release window, ahead of the 2 November 2018 launch. The global plan was to fly European media to the US for three to four days.
What I did
Two custom Diablo-themed chests, each holding four Switch consoles for local co-op, toured six European territories over about a month with local comms teams, finishing in the UK. I developed the concept and coordinated fabrication, logistics and execution with Nintendo and the global franchise team.
The decision
After consulting the territory teams, I challenged the US trip: days out of the office in review season, high cost, uncertain turnout. We took the experience to the journalists instead.
Result
Journalists responded enthusiastically, and launch coverage and reviews were overwhelmingly positive.
Rather than asking European journalists to travel to experience Diablo on Switch, we brought Diablo to them, making the product's portability the campaign experience itself.