AN AWARDED HISTORY
Rokkan has been the lead agency for the entire BioShock® franchise from the original Xbox 360 title, to the PS3 conversion, BioShock® franchise site and now the multi-console release of BioShock® 2. The award winning sites have gained mass appeal not only to core gamers, but to the general community. Daily award sites such as the FWA and Commarts Web Pick, expose millions of people to the franchise and is a viable alternative source for building awareness.

BUILD ANTICIPATION
The strategy set for 2K's digital marketing meets the needs of a finicky and temperamental core gaming audience. The 2 prong approach is divided into experiential and community based sites. Major content releases about a new game are well timed and are often purposefully few and far between. The less the audience knows about a game the more excited they become. The moment a game is announced discussions, chatter, trolling, and speculations start up the "community machine" which last even through post-launch of a game.

Major content releases are posted on game specific community sites which are then picked up by game content publishers such as IGN, Gamespot, Kotaku and Gametrailers. For example, the day BioShock® 2 phase 2 site launched, Kotaku had immediately downloaded the exclusive video content and posted it on their blogs. The community discussions give an early and insightful view on audience opinions, likes and dislikes, etc. which become crucial in continual marketing strategy and game development.

Rokkan and 2K have consistently offered digital experiences that provide an alternate perspective of a game. BioShock® 2 for example, metaphorically tells the story of a key character in the game which is a point of view that is tailored for the website.

IN THE MIND OF MADNESS
The new BioShock® 2 website offers a uniquely metaphoric glimpse into the mind of one of the key characters of the game, the Big Sister. Users are able to interact with an-adhoc art-deco style dollhouse, made from found objects and assembled by the Big Sister. The dollhouse is a representation of the failed utopia of Rapture from the Big Sister’s perspective.

Rokkan worked with 2K's marketing development teams in crafting the concepts for the site into a phased approach.

Phase 1 - Provide basic content and link to the community site (Cult of Rapture), while teasing exclusive content in an experiential site platform (The official BioShock® 2 website).

Phase 2 - Release the experiential portion of the site showing new and never-before seen content. Seed the release of the new site on gaming communities, forums, etc. Content such as screenshots and videos subsequently get lifted and posted to various blog and gaming sites such as Kotaku and IGN.

NO CREATIVE DETAIL LEFT UNTURNED
The production and development pipeline consisted of storyboarding, 3D, audio production, and illustration authored in Flash. All 3D assets were original and created in house by Rokkan’s 3D and motion team. Reference in-game sketches and artwork from the BioShock 2 game development team were used as the basis for creating original assets to match the art-deco period of the game. While typically, game studios prohibit the creation of new assets by an outside vendor, Rokkan’s relationship with 2K and long expertise in game marketing, allowed us to create new assets to be used exclusively for digital marketing. After launch, BioShock 2 and the previous original BioShock PS3 sites have won numerous awards and have been featured in online and print publications.

GAME ON
Rokkan begain producing websites and strategies for video game marketing in 2001. ECD and partner, Charles Bae, formerly of Acclaim Entertainment transitioned his knowledge from traditional game marketing to digital. Prior to providing digital services for 2K, Rokkan created concept boards for front of box artwork. Rokkan has been responsible for many AAA 2K titles including BioShock®, Civilization and Mafia II. Rokkan has also been tasked to create 3D assets and animations to be used in-game.