Video Game Promotions That Totally Backfired

Back in 2010, developer Visceral Games finished work on Dante's Inferno, a hack-and-slash action game loosely based on the first canticle of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. In it, players assumed the role of a Templar knight version of Dante as he fought his way through the nine Circles of Hell to rescue his love. Published by EA, the title had a rocky path to release, mostly from a marketing standpoint. At Comic-Con 2009, the publisher put on a "sin to win" promotion, which asked con-goers to "commit acts of lust" by taking photos with booth models throughout the show. They would then need to upload those photos to social media or email them directly to EA. The lucky winner would receive a dinner and "sinful night with two hot girls, a limo service, paparazzi, and a chest full of booty."

The backlash came almost immediately, as people denounced the promotion for its objectification of women. Barely a day after announcing the contest, EA released a formal apology for its tone, clarifying that the "acts of lust" they were looking for were simply the photos with booth girls and absolutely nothing more. Also, the "Night of Lust" winner would receive a VIP, all expenses paid evening, but nothing, well, lustful. However, the damage was done, as the press slammed the promotion and the public outcry was heard all around the internet.

In September of 2012, Japanese game publisher Capcom set out on a unique, but extremely gross, promotional campaign leading up to the launch of Resident Evil 6. The campaign, which involved a series of staged murder scenes outside London media companies, crime scene photos, and fresh meat re-labeled as human meat sent to members of the press, culminated in a weekend-long publicity stunt at a "human butcher shop" called Wesker & Son (named after prominent Resident Evil antagonist Albert Wesker). The combination pop-up store and art installation opened to the public, allowing attendees to not only view exhibits created by professional food artist Sharon Baker, but also purchase edible meat products designed to look like human body parts.

On the surface, the pop-up shop had two goals: promote the new Resident Evil game and offer proceeds from the meat sale to Limbless Association, a UK nonprofit that helps amputees. However, the entire human meat campaign ended up being extremely disturbing. Capcom ended the promotion after one weekend, and it didn't help the game come close its sales goals. The publisher's financial report indicated that Resident Evil 6 sold 4.9 million units during the fiscal year, which was 2.1 million less than its original projected goal. It even placed some of the blame on "inadequate marketing."

Fans of social network and mobile games likely have spent some time with Zynga's Mafia Wars. Originally released on Facebook and Myspace in 2008, the multiplayer game saw players taking control of gangsters and building up their own mafias. The game was a hit for the fledgling developer and led to a sequel in 2011. But before the sequel, Zynga wanted to make sure it got the most out of the free-to-play title, and with the help of a San Francisco-based advertising agency, it set out to market the game's Las Vegas iteration in unique ways.

"Unique" was one way to describe a particular guerrilla marketing stunt that the agency cooked up. "Illegal" was another, more accurate way. In August of 2010, Davis Elen Advertising promoted Mafia Wars: Las Vegas by slapping dozens of stickers, made to look like $25,000 bills, on San Francisco's sidewalks. On the surface, it was a harmless campaign, but ended up costing the city money. The city's Department of Public Works had to use steam cleaners to remove the stickers, something that took upwards of 45 minutes to do at every stickered area. City attorney Dennis Herrera threatened Zynga with legal action because of the stunt, demanding that the developer pay for the lengthy clean up. Luckily for Zynga, Davis Elen Advertising stepped up at the eleventh hour and shouldered the blame, paying $45,000 in fines.

While the promotions discussed thus far didn't exactly help their games, none of them resulted in real-life gunshots. In Auckland, New Zealand, a Splinter Cell: Conviction stunt nearly did. Prior to the 2010 game's release, Monaco Corporation, a marketing partner of developer Ubisoft, hired another outside firm to put on an event at a local bar. That company hired an actor, gave him a fake gun, and sent him into the popular nightlife spot.

Dozens of patrons reported that the man, who had bandaged hands, pointed a pistol at them. As they took cover, armed police entered the area, ready to shoot if necessary. While the authorities easily figured out that the gun was fake after taking it from the man, no one involved found the stunt amusing. Monaco's marketing manager Duane Mutu later released a statement saying, "This was by no means an attempt to get cops down there and get this sort of exposure. We do apologize, we shouldn't have had guns down there. It was just marketing gone wrong."

Here's a good rule to follow when doing video game promotion: don't do something that results in a visit from a bomb squad. The marketing team for Watch Dogs didn't follow that rule when promoting the game back in 2014. Australia's Ninemsn, a news and current events website, received a strange, black safe along with a suspicious letter that told a member of the press to "check your voicemail." Understandably, this rattled some nerves, and things only escalated when the reporter not only had no voicemail, but the pin code that was meant to open the safe didn't work. After trying to enter the code, the safe began to beep.

Fearing a potential explosive device, the company sent home its staff and called in bomb squad officers to open the safe in the office building's basement. What did they find after successfully opening it? Inside were a copy of Watch Dogs, a baseball cap, a beanie, and a note detailing the game's embargo. Ubisoft apologized for the ill-advised promotion, detailing that it sent the wrong pin code for the safe and failed to leave the necessary, instructional voicemail for the reporter.