Fortnite | Shock n' Awesome

Epic Games

In Fortnite, a season launch is a big deal - it’s the next beat of an ever-evolving story that takes place in one of the world’s biggest entertainment properties. And with all the momentum from the previous season’s super ending (iykyk), Tencent knew they’d need something truly special for the next season - Shock ‘N Awesome. So they came to us for help making a splash.

So Epic, Obviously.

The Insight

The kind of Fortnite fans who pore through announce videos for clues about what to expect aren’t a bunch of casuals - they know what they like, and they’re not shy about saying so. That meant we needed to make the trailer for Shock ‘N Awesome one big celebration of the fandom.

The Execution

We started by storyboarding out a spot which would let us pack the maximum amount of fanservice into one spot - both to celebrate the existing Fortnite community’s shared experiences and to tap into the love for the franchises featured over the course of Shock ‘N Awesome. Then we called up our director Mike Diva to bring it to life by capturing shot after shot of motion capture footage, layering 3D animation on top of every frame, and adding a light dusting of VFX throughout the final bespoke asset.

The Results

Our videos racked up millions of views and engagements across all platforms, including over 1 million views on YouTube alone in less than a day. Epic reported a 2% increase in Battle Pass sales in the week following our trailer’s release - a testament to our ability to drive excitement and effectively contextualize outside IPs. But of all of the videos’ achievements, we were proudest of the tidal wave of enthusiasm we generated among fans in the comments. It was truly a W for the ages.