Sydney’s Carriageworks was transformed as Activision and independent creative agency Emotive brought the world of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 to life through an immersive pop-up experience.
Inspired by the setting on the Korean peninsula in Modern Warfare 4, Emotive brought a giant DMZ fence to split the iconic Sydney venue in two, creating opposing territories where every attendee faced a simple question.
Hundreds of fans were drafted into the North or South, issued military permits and sent into their respective territories to complete a series of missions unique to their side.
There were covert night vision operations inside pitch-black shipping containers, enemy operatives to hunt down and contraband to uncover. Some recruits even found themselves getting haircuts and state portraits where smiling was discouraged.
At key moments, recruits were given the chance to defect to the opposite side of the fence, abandoning everything they’d earned for the opportunity to switch sides.
“We wanted to put everyone right in the middle of it. Give them a highly immersive experience, missions to complete and a chance to have a bit of fun. We were overwhelmed by the immense positivity we felt from Call of Duty fans at the event,” said Emotive chief creative officer Gavin McLeod.
The experience also enlisted 50 creators from gaming, comedy, sport and entertainment, including Marty & Michael, Safar Bros, Brodie Pawson, Fonzie Gomez, Nathan Lust and Jono Castano, with a combined following of more than nine million.
Across the two days, more than 200 pieces of creator content were produced on site. Creator content from the activation has gone viral in the gaming community with Nathan Lust’s collab with Jonny Tuivasa-Scheck hitting 4.1 million organic views.
The activation marks Emotive’s first work for Activision, with strategy, creative, earned, talent and production delivered as one team across Emotive and its production company, Emotive Productions. Amplification was built in from day one, with Emotive working hand in hand with Activision’s media agency, Avenue C, to take the experience to wider Australia.
Credits:
Activision
Publishing Director, APAC: Kyle Stefanovic
Senior Brand and Social Manager: Valerie Chia
Senior Brand Manager: Joyce Lo
Senior Manager, Influencers & Creators: Nicholas Ng
Communications Director: Shawn Sabeti
Senior Digital Media Manager: Keith Tan
Creative Agency: Emotive
Chief Executive Officer: Simon Joyce
Chief Creative Officer: Gavin McLeod
Chief Strategy Officer: Sebastian Revell
Business Director: Alice Tschuchnigg
Account Director: Jessica Nord
Senior Creative Director: Paul Sharp
Creative Director: Andy Flemming
Head of Design: Daniel Mortensen
Senior Designer: Chris Cooper
Senior Designer: Jamie Bush
Copywriter: Ashling Coffey
Art Director: Max Moore
Traffic Manager: Karen Liddle
Head of Social and Content: Clément Simon
Head of PR & Influence: Rhania Farah
(Freelance) Senior Publicist: Rebecca Patterson
(Freelance) Account Manager: Lauren Duncan
Earned Creative Director: Alexander Masson
Production: Emotive Productions
Head of Production: Hayley-Ritz Pelling
Senior Producer: Michael Hollis
Head of Events and Experience: Gus Stephenson
Senior Editor: Sam Gadsden
Senior Event Producer: Tina Gasparini
Lead Event Stylist: Tooti Jacobs
Event Ideation Consultant: Izzy Noall
Event Operations Manager: Jacob Masters
Event Assistant: Lexie Brooke
Media agency: Avenue C
Director: Hugo Cutrone
Media & Investment Partner: Andrew Markou
Digital Partner: Chris Zoomerschoe
Business Partner: Ed Passerotti
