Case Study
The 2019 Game Awards on Twitter
Every December, The Game Awards celebrates the past year of gaming by awarding the very best developers, artists, creators, teams, and esports athletes for their work. Voting is open to the general public, and since anyone can vote, Twitter plays an integral part in the awards, keeping people in the know about nominees, voting, and much more.
Twitter also hosts the conversation about what’s happening during the awards, too. Not only are winners announced, but new consoles like the Xbox Series X are shown off, there are musical performances from bands like Green Day, and brand-new games, like Hellblade 2, are announced.
Here’s a look back at how the 2019 Game Awards played out on Twitter.
Awards teaser
On November 3, The Game Awards started hinting that the list of nominees would drop very soon. They asked engaging questions, like who the audience would like to see nominated to stir up conversation, and build up general hype for the event.
Like-to-subscribe
The Game Awards teamed up with Twitter to launch a like-to-subscribe campaign to deliver real-time updates and news about the upcoming awards night. All fans needed to do to take part was Like or Retweet the Tweet to take part. Campaigns like these are designed to ensure that fans stay up to date on all the action and don’t miss a single thing.
Announcement date
The Game Awards opted to highlight all categories with a flurry of Tweet activity on November 19. Each separate post included the category, all nominees, a link to voting, and a video that highlighted the entire category. Collectively, the announcement day drew in over 7 million impressions, generating a buzz around the nominees.
Ask the fans
The Game Awards and Subway teamed up on a sponsored campaign to engage fans about who they thought would walk away the winners on December 12. As these were the only public polls around the event, it was sure to stir up some conversation and potentially hint at an upcoming winner. Activations like these are a great way to get people talking about the event even more.
Revisiting past awards
Looking back on previous years is an easy way to dig up nostalgia while also looking ahead at the imminent awards ahead. The Game Awards opted to include all of the previous winners for Game of the Year and asked its audience who would be this year's winner. Bonus points if you can dig up old Tweets and Quote Tweet them for maximum effectiveness.
Questions for the host
This year, Rocket Mortgage sponsored a Q&A with awards show producer and host, Geoff Keighley, in the final few days leading up to the event. Fans had the opportunity to ask him questions about his preparation for the show, what they could expect on the night, hints about announcements, and more.
The big day
The awards took place on December 12, and the day began with a “Good Morning” Tweet followed by information on how to watch all the action. As the day progressed, followers were met with pre-show coverage and finally a link to the live stream. During the event, attendees and their responses were Retweeted while highlighting which nominees had walked away winners. Every winner was named and celebrated on the Game Awards timeline.
After the event
After the last award was handed off and the dust began to settle on the excitement of the evening, the Game Awards asked its audience to share their favorite moment from the night. (Personally, we were fans of the Muppets). In the days following the event, the Game Awards shared high-quality imagery and a statistical summation of its record-breaking 45.2 million live streams across all platforms.
