The State of AAA Game Advertising

Jun, 2024 The State of AAA
Game Advertising
A look back on the biggest launches and trends of the past year

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03
09
46
AAA Gaming Advertising Overview
To p L a u n c h e s 2 0 2 3 R e v i e w
Additional Advertising Insights
What’s inside?
This report dives into the biggest PC/console game launch for
each quarter in 2023, drilling down into timing, channels,
positioning, and spend. After, we take a look at some key insights
into the biggest trends of 2023 in PC/console game marketing.
2
Where does this data come from?
Unless otherwise noted, the data in this report comes from Pathmatics,
a digital ad intel platform and part of Sensor Tower that tracks
advertisers and publishers, showing ad spend, creative, share of voice,
and more.

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Pathmatics and its value.
Planning
Insights:
Compare digital marketing &
channel strategies of competitors
Actions:
Predict and adapt to competitors’
media mix and buying behavior
to maximize advertising efficiency
and effectiveness
Result:
Increase share of voice & reach
Strategy
Insights:
Understand competitor go-to-
market, commercial &
partnership strategies
Actions:
Spot trends and drive better
strategic planning and data
driven decision-making
Result:
Increase first mover advantages
and market share against
competitors
Creative
Insights:
Compare creative styles, focus
language, product positioning &
call to action with competitors
Actions:
Tune your creatives using data
& insights to outperform
competitors
Result:
Optimize digital share of wallet
& conversion rates

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50% of the top PC/console games by ad spend in 2023 were
launches, compared to 20% in 2022.
The four 2023 launches with the most ad spend behind them
included Hogwarts Legacy, Diablo IV, Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare III (2023) and Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. Hogwarts Legacy
and Star Wars: Jedi Survivor bring new angles to S-tier
intellectual properties, and likely needed a significant budget to
show players why they should buy another game in IPs that
already have many dedicated games.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is a remake of the original 2011
hit, and Diablo IV is a sequel to Diablo III, released in 2012.
However, while Diablo IV needed to re-engage an audience hasn’t
seen a new launch in several years, Modern Warfare III needed to
differentiate itself from Modern Warfare II (2022) and Modern
Warfare 3 (2011).
The top PC/console spender was a live service game: Fortnite had
a huge year, with the OG Fortnite season driving record active
players.
Other live services games like Minecraft, Valorant, and GTA:
Online competed with the biggest launches of the year to land on
this list. Interestingly, Riot vastly scaled back on Valorant and
League of Legends US spend this year. Valorant was the top PC/
console game by ad spend in 2022.
2023 was a huge year for AAA
PC/console game launches.
Lauch or Live Service?
Live Service
Launch
Launch
Live Service
Live Service
Launch
Launch
Launch
Live Service
Live Service
Top ten PC/console games by ad spend 2023
Fortnite
Hogwarts Legacy
Diablo IV
Overwatch
Minecra!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
Star Wars: Jedi Survivor
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Valorant
GTA: Online
Epic Games
Warner Bros. Games
Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard
Microsoft
Activision Blizzard
Electronic Arts
Ubisoft
Riot Games
TakeTwo Interactive US$13M US$14M US$15M US$16M US$19M US$23M US$25M US$26M US$33M US$57M

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Some of these top launches were able to take advantage of an
existing, highly engaged audience to avoid needing a huge ad
campaign to drive sales. The Legend of Zelda series, for example,
has an almost sacred position in the gaming community and
doesn’t seem to need to do much to ensure its fans will buy the
newest installment.
Other launches ran fully loaded launch campaigns. Some games
introduced a new angle to an existing IP (Hogwarts Legacy, Star
Wars Jedi: Survivor) while others needed to re-engage the
audience of an older series (Diablo IV, Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare III).
2023 PC/console launches
took advantage of huge
existing audiences.
Ad spend of top 10 selling PC/console games 2023
30 days pre-launch to 30 days post-launch
Hogwarts Legacy
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
Madden NFL 24
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Diablo IV
Mortal Kombat 1
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
EA Sports FC 24
Starfield
Warner Bros. Games
Activision Blizzard
Electronic Arts
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Nintendo
Activision Blizzard
Warner Bros . Games
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Bethesda Softworks
IP
Top Ad
Channel
Harry Potter Facebook
Call of Duty YouTube
NFL Facebook
Marvel Video
Legend of Zelda OTT
Diablo Facebook
Mortal Kombat YouTube
Star Wars YouTube
FIFPro TikTok
Original OTT
Note: Top selling PC/console games according to Circana. US$8M US$3M US$14M US$4M US$16M US$2M US$4M US$1M US$13M US$28M

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As the home of gamers across the board and the premiere video
platform, it is no surprise that YouTube is the #1 ad channel for
PC/Console games. Facebook remains an advertising titan
despite not being the first social network to come to mind for PC/
Console gamers. TikTok and Instagram are also quite significant,
representing a valuable younger, highly engaged audience.
Comparing to 2022, the media mix is becoming more diverse,
with Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram taking share from
YouTube. Gaming streaming leader Twitch also saw huge growth.
Video drove 6% of spend, with Twitch being the largest video
channel by far. Other social channels like Snapchat, Pinterest,
and X take up 5%. Display ads take another 5%, while OTT ads
shown on channels like Netflix, Hulu, and Peacock drove 4%.
YouTube is the primary ad
channel for PC/Console games
in the US.
YouTube
Facebook
TikTok
Instagram
Video
Other Social
Display
OTT
2023 Total US Marketing Spend:
$600 million
PC/console gaming ad spend by channel 2023 4% 5% 5% 6% 11 % 12% 23% 35%

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With the launches of Diablo IV and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,
not to mention being acquired by Microsoft, 2023 was a big year
for Activision Blizzard. If Activision Blizzard ad spend and
Microsoft ad spend are added together, Microsoft’s footprint in
US PC/console ad spend is more than twice the #2 publisher on
this list. Interestingly, Microsoft spent the most on advertising for
Minecraft, not Starfield.
Epic Games’ Fortnite saw more ad spend than any other game.
Electronic Arts saw multiple successful launches in Madden 24,
EA Sports FC 2023 (which performed admirably despite the lack
of the FIFA name), and Star Wars: Jedi.
Activision Blizzard is the top
publisher by ad spend in US
PC/console gaming for 2023.
Activision Blizzard, Inc.
Epic Games, Inc.
Electronic Arts Inc.
Microso!
Ubiso! Entertainment
Warner Bros Games
Nintendo
Take-Two Interactive So!ware
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Tencent
Top PC/console games by US ad spend in 2023 US$21M US$24M US$29M US$30M US$39M US$44M US$47M US$63M US$65M US$79M

1Q2023:
Hogwarts Legacy
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It’s not easy to name an IP bigger worldwide than Harry Potter.
There have been several games made out of the IP: 17 to be
exact. Hogwarts Legacy had an established audience to appeal
to, but needed to show this audience why they should care about
this 18th Harry Potter game.
Needless to say, Warner Bros. Games delivered with Hogwarts
Legacy. What really made Hogwarts Legacy stand out was its
execution on the core fantasy of the IP. The previous games
mostly focused on Harry and his friends, but what Harry Potter
fans really want is to attend Hogwarts themselves. Hogwarts
Legacy gave them that chance, and this core value proposition
was messaged throughout from preorder all throughout launch.
Hogwarts Legacy was the
definitive launch of 2023.
Release Date February 10, 2023
Publisher Warner Bros. Games
Developer Avalanche Studios
Genre Action RPG
Metacritic (Metascore/User Score) 84 / 8.4
Sources for sales numbers: Warner Bros.
in sales within two months of launch
$1 billion
copies sold as of February 2024
25 million
PC/console game launch by ad spend
#1 2023

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Hogwarts Legacy positions itself as the fantasy fulfillment of the Harry Potter IP.
Screenshots from Hogwarts Legacy official cinematic trailer at prelaunch period
Hogwarts Legacy’s cinematic trailer focused on the beginning of the Harry Potter fantasy,
receiving an invitation via owl to Hogwarts. This trailer was released at the beginning of the
launch campaign (about a month before launch), and footage from this trailer was used
extensively leading up to launch. Hogwarts Legacy’s launch trailer continues on the IP fantasy, focusing on the beginning of
the school year for the player character. This trailer was also used significantly post launch,
though a variety of other creative were also used.
Screenshots from Hogwarts Legacy official launch trailer at postlaunch period

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Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
YouTube Facebook Instagram TikTok Other
Preorder campaigns
Launch campaign
PS4 release campaign
Nintendo Switch release campaign
Hogwarts Legacy creative spend over time by network
2022 2023
Preorder
Prelaunch
Postlaunch
Secondary platform launches
Hogwarts Legacy spend breakdown by campaign period
Hogwarts Legacy focused on a massive launch campaign, with the
largest portion of budget spent building hype just before launch.
12 13% 38% 45% 4%

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99% video posts
30s
15s
20s
28s
154s
Other Durations
Story Post
Video Post
Other
15s
30s
7s
24s
25s
Other Durations
Hogwarts Legacy’s creative formats were tuned for each channel.
13
Breakdown of Hogwarts Legacy creative spend by format and network 30 day\
s pre-launch to 30 days post-launch
TikTok ads were decidedly shorter than YouTube ads overall, as befitting the short form
video channel. 30s ads highly utilized on both networks. It seems a longer ad suited
Hogwarts Legacy’s narrative focused messaging. While Facebook ads were virtually all video posts, Hogwarts Legacy used primarily Story
Posts on Instagram, somewhat surprising given the focus on video in other platforms. 22% 5% 9% 14% 19% 31% 1% 24% 75% 2% 3% 9% 18% 33% 35%

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Hogwarts Legacy’s YouTube spend was steady,
while Facebook and TikTok spend spiked sharply at launch.
14
YouTube is a platform where longer form content can find sustained engagement, supporting a slower but steadier spend strategy. Comparatively, Facebook and Tiktok reward fresh, time-sensitive
content, which incentivizes advertisers to spend in a shorter time period around launch.
The launch campaign was kicked off with the release of a cinematic trailer that was also used as ad creative on YouTube.
Hogwarts Legacy creative spend over time by network
30 days pre-launch to 30 days post-launch, top three networks by Hogwart\
s Legacy ad spend
1/13/23 1/20/23 1/27/23 2/3/23 2/17/23 2/24/23 3/3/23 3/10/23 Launch Day

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Pre-launch, Hogwarts Legacy used footage from the cinematic
trailer to message the IP’s fantasy fulfillment on all top channels.
15
Screenshots of top creative for YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok in 30 days before launch
Leading up to launch, Hogwarts
Legacy leaned heavily into the
beginning of any Harry Potter’s
fan fantasy: getting an invitation
to Hogwarts via owl. The same
creative was used across top
channels, including YouTube,
Facebook, and TikTok

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Post-launch, Hogwats Legacy creative strategy diverged by channel.
16
Post-launch, the owl delivery creative present across every channel disappeared, and the top creatives by channel were completely diﬀerent.
Screenshots of top TikTok creative post-launch.
Post-launch, the top Tik-Tok creative was an organic
inspired “how it started vs how it’s going” ad.
Top Facebook creative post-launch.
Post-launch, the top Facebook creative focused on game
quality and themes of exploration and discovery.
Screenshot of top YouTube creative post-launch.
Post-launch, the top YouTube ad looks like a mobile
game ad, with a “challenge” theme.

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PlayStation partnership was prominent in every Hogwarts Legacy campaign.
17
CTA from top pre-launch TikTok creative.
PlayStation branding was included in most
creative intro and outros.
Top Facebook creative post-launch.
CTA from top Nintendo Switch launch campaignTikTok creative.
Even during the Nintendo Switch launch campaign,
PlayStation was more prominent in creative.
Some TikTok creative
did have a noticeable
lack of PlayStation
branding.
Hogwarts Legacy was also promoted by PlayStation.
In this and other Nintendo Switch launch
campaign creatives, although “AVAILABLE NOW
on Nintendo Switch” is fairly prominent, the
PlayStation cases are stacked on top of the
Switch case, and “Out now on PlayStation…” is
higher than the Switch call out.

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OTT was the most used channel outside of top social ad networks.
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Ad spend breakdown by channel 
Tertiary ad networks
OTT
Twitch
reddit
fandom.com
Peacock
Pluto TV US$120,000 US$131,000 US$141,000 US$218,000 US$314,000 US$1,800,000

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Hogwarts Legacy messaged its tagline, “Your legacy begins now”, throughout launch.
“PS5” was more common as text in pre-launch creative.
Word cloud of Hogwarts Legacy creative text pre-launch Word cloud of Hogwarts Legacy creative text post-launch

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Hogwarts Legacy had relatively fewer brand
collaborations compared to other top 2023 AAA launches.

2Q2023:
Diablo IV
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Diablo IV is the long awaited sequel to Diablo III. Diablo II,
released in 2000, was a legendary title that helped define the
action RPG genre. Diablo III, released in 2012, received a
somewhat more mixed reception due to technical issues, the
controversial real-money auction house, and an overall shift in
tone and gameplay compared to Diablo II. While Diablo III
received numerous live service updates allowing it to achieve
significant sustained success, the Diablo IV launch needed to
overcome the specter of these past challenges.
Given Blizzard had nearly a decade of experience running live
services for Diablo III to leverage in creating Diablo IV, it’s no
surprise that the game launched with a full complement of live
services. While gamers pay to play the game, there are additional
optional micro-transactions reminiscent of mobile games. This
means that it should have a much longer tail of revenue
compared to more traditional pay once and play boxed single
player games like Hogwarts Legacy. While there is a vocal
population of gamers who see this business model as “greedy”,
(and have made their opinions known through reviews on Steam
and Metacritic, hence the 2.3 Metacritic User Score), it seems
entirely possible that this choice allowed Diablo IV’s total revenue
to exceed Hogwarts Legacy’s in 2023.
Diablo IV might have driven the
most revenue of any PC/console
game in 2023.
Sources for sales statistics: Activision Blizzard
Release Date June 5, 2023
Publisher Blizzard Entertainment
Developer Blizzard Entertainment
Genre Action RPG
Metacritic (Metascore/User Score) 86 / 2.3
in sales within five days of launch
$666 million
selling Blizzard game of all time
Fastest
PC/console game launch by ad spend
#2 2023

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Diablo IV positions itself as a return to the dark atmosphere of Diablo II, the classic 2000 RPG.
Diablo IV’s trailers are full of darkness and disturbing imagery, positioning the game as more horror and less fantasy action RPG than its predecessor, Diablo III. The fact that many of its YouTube
trailers contain a warning that must be clicked through reinforces this, as does one of its earlier taglines: “Return to darkness.”
Screenshots of Diablo IV’s announcement trailer on YouTube Screenshot from Diablo IV’s announcement trailer Diablo IV ad creative

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Diablo IV spend over time by network Diablo IV spend breakdown by campaign period
Diablo IV combined a significant open beta campaign with
significant post launch spend, including a huge accolades campaign.
24
Preorder
Open beta
Launch (prelaunch)
Launch (postlaunch)
Postlaunch
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan
YouTube Facebook Instagram TikTok Desktop Video Other
Preorder campaigns
Launch campaign
Open beta campaign
Holiday sales campaigns
2022 2023 2024 7% 50% 18% 21% 4%

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Diablo IV’s launch directly addressed challenges that the release of Diablo III faced.
25
Diablo IV creative
Screenshot of an X reply 
posted by Rod Fergusson, Diablo producer
Screenshot from Diablo IV announcement trailer
Diablo IV held a huge open beta months before
launch, ensuring that technical issues wouldn’t
appear, at least on the same scale, and indirectly
assuring players of the same.
No auction house at all, which is confirmed on X
rather than through any oﬀicial announcement.
Diablo IV returned to a dark atmosphere
reminiscent of Diablo II. The announcement trailer
featured disturbing imagery and brutal violence,
and one tagline used was “Return to Darkness.”
Server errors, including the infamous “Error 37”,
that preventing players from logging in. Real-life money auction house sparks controversy. Some fans were dissatisfied by what they saw as
Diablo III moving away from the dark, gritty
atmosphere of Diablo II to target a more
mainstream audience.
Diablo III
launch
issue:
Diablo IV
solution:

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Diablo IV favored 15 – 30s video ads.
26
Breakdown of Diablo IV creative spend by format and network 30 days pre-\
launch to 30 days post-launch
Diablo IV clearly favored 30s ads on YouTube and 11s – 15s ads on TikTok at launch. Video posts were favored on both Facebook and Instagram, with photo posts seeing more
use on Facebook.
30s
15s
6s
Photo Post
Video Post
11s – 15s
31s – 45s
16s – 30s
Photo Post
Video Post 4% 7% 89% 89% 11 % 2% 4% 94% 67% 33%

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Pre-launch, Diablo IV adopted different creative strategies by channel
27
Post-launch, the owl delivery creative present across every channel disappeared, and the top creatives by channel were completely diﬀerent.
Screenshots of top TikTok creative pre-launch.
Pre-launch, the top TikTok creative featured
gameplay and Billie Eilish’s “You Should See Me in a
Crown”. Cinematics were also used.
Screenshots of top Twitch creative pre-launch.
Pre-launch, cinematics creative were on top for Twitch,
though gameplay + Billie Eilish creative was also seen.
Screenshots of top YouTube creative pre-launch.
Pre-launch, YouTube focused on live-action ads,
with cinematics creative also being used.

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One week post launch, Diablo IV pivoted into accolades campaigns.
28
Screenshots of top Facebook creative post-launch.
Across all top channels, one week post launch, Diablo IV creative focused on reviews and quotes from reviews and critics. This campaign was much more Facebook heavy than the initial
launch campaign.
Screenshots of top Twitch creative post-launch. Screenshot of top YouTube creative post-launch.

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Diablo IV had several sales post launch.
29
Diablo IV may be more willing to discount given that live ops allow them to monetize current players. Also, Diablo IV became available on Xbox’s Game Pass March 28, three days before their mini Online
Game of the Year campaign (which only saw around $10k in spend). Having Diablo be available for $10/month (with a free trial) makes it paying full price almost a year a”er release even less appetizing.
Halloween sale
10/16/23 – 11/1/23
Black Friday sale
11/17/23 – 12/1/23
Christmas sale
12/15/23 – 12/31/23
Online game of the year sale
3/31/24 – 4/8/23

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Xbox branding is prevalent in Diablo IV ad creative.
30
Xbox + Diablo IV branding seems very similar to
PlayStation + Hogwarts Legacy branding.

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Diablo IV promoted its beta heavily pre launch.
“Hellish” fantasy words were used frequently pre and post launch.
Word cloud of Diablo IV creative text pre-launch Word cloud of Diablo IV creative text post-launch

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Diablo IV partnered with a diverse set of brands at launch.
32
Diablo IV gaming hardware and
accessory collabs included
steelseries and Secretlab. Diablo IV was mentioned in
Microso” Bing creative. Mountain Dew is a common gaming partner, but Diablo
IV also had some “fiery” collaborations, in keeping with
the hellish nature of the game.
Full Sail University mentioned
Diablo IV in creative to promote
itself as a viable path into the
gaming industry.

3Q2023:
Starfield
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There may not be a game more beloved than Bethesda’s The
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Bethesda’s Fallout series is also
universally acclaimed. Starfield is Bethesda’s first new franchise
in over 25 years. To say that the gaming community was eagerly
awaiting the studio’s next epic adventure would be an
understatement.
Starfield’s launch was unique in that the game was available via
Xbox Game Pass from release. That means that players could pay
the full $70 at launch to own the game, or sign up for a free trial,
after which they would pay only $10 per month to play. Even if
you only wanted to play Starfield and planned to finish playing
and cancel your subscription within six months, that would be a
better deal than buying the game outright from a consumer
perspective, assuming you didn’t plan to play it again.
Despite this compelling competition and Starfield’s status as a PC
and Xbox exclusive, Starfield managed to become the 10th best
selling game of 2023.
Starfield was highly
anticipated for years.
Sources for sales statistics: Microso”/Xbox
players within three months
12 million
most played game in Microsoft Gaming
Top 10
best selling game of 2023, not
including Xbox Game Pass players
10th
Release Date September 6, 2023
Publisher Bethesda Softworks
Developer Bethesda Game Studios
Genre RPG
Metacritic (Metascore/User Score) 83 / 6.9

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Starﬁeld spend over time by network Starﬁeld spend breakdown by campaign period
Starfield’s announcement and gameplay reveal campaigns saw huge spend, a year
and two years before release, during the Xbox Games Showcases 2021 and 2022.
35
Announcement
Gameplay reveal
Preorder
Launch (prelaunch)
Launch (postlaunch)
Postlaunch
May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
YouTube OTT Desktop Video Facebook Other
Announcement campaign
Preorder campaign
Gameplay reveal campaign
2022 2023 2024 2021
Launch campaign
Holidays
campaigns 2% 32% 24% 9% 12% 20%

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Starfield positions itself as ultra high quality, from both technical and artistic standpoints.
36
Starfield mentions Bethesda’s earth shattering hits Skyrim and Fallout in trailers and creative and showcases cinematic space landscapes in 4k, positioning the game as ultra high quality in every sense.
This positioning was reinforced in the accolades campaign following launch.
Screenshot from Starfield’s official
gameplay trailer. Screenshot from Starfield’s
teaser trailer. Screenshots from Starfield accolades creative

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100% video posts
Starfield favored 15s video ads.
37
Breakdown of Starfield creative spend by format and network
30 days pre-launch to 30 days post-launch
Starfield favored 15s ads on both YouTube and TikTok. Surprisingly, TikTok saw a higher
proportion of 30s Starfield ads than YouTube. Video posts were used liberally on Facebook and Instagram, but Link posts were the #1
used format used on Instagram.
30s
15s
Photo Post
Video Post
Link Post
15s
30s 94% 6% 44% 39% 17% 38% 62%

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Starfield primarily used a combination of gameplay and live action creative.
38
Both styles of creative were seen
across top used channels,
including Hulu, YouTube, and
Twitch. The top creative on Hulu
and YouTube were gameplay
creative, while the top creative on
Twitch was live action.
Screenshots of live action creative pre-launch. Screenshots of top gameplay creative pre-launch.

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Starfield creative strategy heavily leveraged Xbox’s brand.
39
Xbox Game Pass, which Starfield
was part of from day one, was not
mentioned as much as Xbox
itself. Xbox’s intro animation is
customized for each game
(compare to Diablo IV Xbox intro
on slide 30).

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Xbox game pass was promoted heavily in Starfield creative text.
Word cloud of Starﬁeld creative text pre-launch Word cloud of Starﬁeld creative text post-launch

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Starfield’s brand partnerships were uniquely diversified.
41
Retailer Target promoted.
Starfield on their socials. Rockstar is another common
gaming partner, but Starfield
also partnered with German
smart food maker yfood. Starfield collabed with gaming hardware and accessories. Xbox Game Pass’ partnership with
Verizon made a Starfield x Verizon
partnership make sense.

4Q2023:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
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Every Call of Duty title is formidable contender for best-selling
game of the year despite releasing in Q4. Modern Warfare III, the
2023 remake of the 2011 title, was no exception despite releasing in
a year jam packed with groundbreaking launches.
This remake comes a year after the Modern Warfare II remake,
which topped $1 billion in sales in 10 days and beat out Elden Ring
to become the best selling game of 2022. While Modern Warfare III
(2023) faced the challenge of distinguishing itself from the original
Modern Warfare 3 or the previous year’s Modern Warfare II, this is a
familiar and entirely doable challenge for Infinity Ward or Activision
in the past, considering historic Call of Duty sales numbers.
Modern Warfare III seems to have run into this challenge more than
other years’ releases, however. Some fans consider the game more
of an expansion to Modern Warfare II than a sequel in its own right.
Others highlight perceived balance and matchmaking issues.
These issues contributed to Modern Warfare III receiving lower
Metascores than Modern Warfare II (which received a Metascore of
75 and a User Score of 5.2, both significantly higher than Modern
Warfare III), and initial sales numbers 38% lower than Modern
Warfare II (2022)’s in the UK.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
(2023), a remake, is the second
best-selling PC/console game of
2023, but faces challenges.
Sources for sales statistics: Activision
selling game of November 2023
#1
played per player than MW (2019)
and MW2 (2022)
More hours
top PC/console game by ad spend
2023
#3
Release Date November 10, 2023
Publisher Activision
Developer Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games
Genre Shooter
Metacritic (Metascore/User Score) 56 / 2.0

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023) spend over time by network
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
spend breakdown by campaign period
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023) blended preorder,
open beta, launch, and holiday sales into one huge campaign.
44
Early beta
Preorder
Open beta
Launch (prelaunch)
Launch (postlaunch)
Holiday Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
YouTube Facebook OTT Video Instagram TikTok Other
Early beta campaign Preorder campaign
2022 2023 2024
Launch campaign
Open beta campaign
Holiday campaign 21% 40% 16% 13% 2% 1%

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III positions itself as a remake with a twist.
45
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023) highlights characters from the original, including villain Vladimir Makarov. However, its red branding contrasts sharply with the standard Call of Duty military green
branding.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare III (2023)’s
launch trailer YouTube thumbnail Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)
Creative screenshots
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)
Creative screenshots

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Modern Warfare III did not have a reveal campaign.
46
Modern Warfare II (2022) ran a reveal trailer campaign in June before release; Modern Warfare III did not.
Modern Warfare III did run a small campaign to get early access beta players during the MW2 launch.
US$0
US$2M
US$4M
US$6M
US$8M
US$10M
US$12M
April May June July
August
September
October
November December
January February
March April May June July
August
September
October
November December
January February
March April
Modern Warfare 2
Modern Warfare 3
2022 2023 2024
MW2 reveal campaign
MW2 launch campaign
MW3 early access beta campaign
MW3 launch campaign
MW3 preorder campaign
MW2 preorder campaign

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Modern Warfare III diversified its ad formats compared to Modern Warfare II.
47
Breakdown of Call of Duty: MWIII and Call of Duty: MWII creative spend b\
y format and network
30 days pre-launch to 30 days post-launch
Both Call of Duty games favored video ads around 15 seconds long, though Modern
Warfare III leaned more into other ad formats. For both launches Facebook ad spend was focused more on photo post ads; Instagram
was focused on video post ads.
MW2
MW3
% of YouTube spend for 15s ads
MW2
MW3
% of Facebook spend for photo post ads.
% of TikTok spend for 11s – 15s ads
MW2
MW3
MW2
MW3
% of Instagram spend for video feed post ads. 69% 92% 43% 58% 94% 100% 61% 62%

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00cfb8
Modern Warfare II creative focused on celebrities and media quotes;
Modern Warfare III focused on esports influencers.
48
Modern Warfare II had Pete Davidson casually singing a song with friends in a commonly used creative.
Post-launch, accolades creative can be seen quoting media outlets like Forbes and CNET.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)
Creative screenshots
Modern Warfare III used quotes and clips of esports players
and influencers post launch in its accolades campaign.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)
Creative screenshots

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PlayStation co-branding were prevalent in both MWII and MWIII creative.
49
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)
Creative screenshots
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)
Creative screenshots

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Word cloud of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023) creative text pre-launch Word cloud of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023) creative text post-launch
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023) pre and post launch creative didn’t show a significant
change in positioning, though “warfare” was more prominent post-launch.

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Call of Duty had some of the most innovative collaborations of 2023 launches.
51
Some of Modern Warfare III’s most unique collaborations include Dune: Part
Two, financial services company United Services Automobile Association,
and an oﬀicial song by 21 Savage. Modern Warfare III branched out of gaming
accessories to partner with premium watch
brand MVMT. Modern Warfare III also collabed with more
standard gaming partners like Monster.

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Fortnite led live service PC/console games with an explosive 4Q2023
powered by OG Fortnite and LEGO Fortnite.
53
Fortnite was #1 in ad spend among PC/console games in 2023, spending more on a single season of its live services than most games spend on their entire launch campaign. OG Fortnite brought record
breaking numbers of players back to the game with classic Fortnite gameplay, then gave them an exciting new collab experience with LEGO Fortnite in the holiday season.
US$0M
US$4M
US$8M
US$12M
US$16M
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
YouTube
TikTok
Facebook
Instagram
Snapchat
2023
Fortnite US monthly ad spend US$5M US$6M US$9M US$11M US$23M

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Honkai: Star Rail shows the power of cross-platform.
54
Honkai: Star Rail spent to acquire users overwhelmingly on mobile. From there, players
can engage with the game on multiple platforms. On PC/Console, Honkai: Star Rail focused on YouTube and Instagram; two channels well
suited to showing off its high quality anime visuals.
Honkai:Star Rail 
Ad spend by platform 2023 Honkai: Star Rail 
Ad spend by channel 2023
Honkai: Star Rail was the 9th highest worldwide grossing mobile game and the #1 game by ad spend 2023.
Honkai: Star Rail was the #2 brand by ad spend May 2023, outspent only by Amazon.
miHoYo was the #3 advertiser by ad spend May 2023, outspent only by P&G and Amazon
Mobile
Franchise
PC/Console
YouTube
Instagram 2% 3% 95% 28% 60%

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Fallout’s transmedia strategy takes off.
55
Fallout releases on Amazon Prime 4/10/24
The Fallout show on Amazon Prime was Amazon’s 2nd most viewed show of all time,
with 65 million viewers. Fallout games universally saw a surge in players.
Fallout releases on Amazon Prime 4/10/24 Fallout 76 Atlantic City releases 12/5/24
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
US$0
US$1,000
US$2,000
US$3,000
US$4,000
US$5,000
US$6,000
US$7,000
US$0
US$10,000
US$20,000
US$30,000
US$40,000
US$50,000
US$60,000
US$70,000
Fallout Shelter on mobile saw its daily downloads
surge 6x as the show released.
Fallout Shelter daily downloads
Amazon ran a small initial campaign for the show at the same
time that Fallout 76 released its Atlantic City expansion.
Amazon Prime Fallout daily ad spend
Fallout 76 ran a campaign timed with the show release.
Fallout 76 daily ad spend

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Madden 24 PC/console had the 2nd biggest online ad presence of any NFL advertiser.
56
Madden 24 PC/console outspent NBC NFL, CBS NFL, FOX NFL, and Madden 24 Mobile in digital advertising. The PC/console game also started gearing up advertising a month earlier, which falls in line with
its release date occurring about a month before the start of the NFL season.
Monthly digital ad spend of NFL IP advertisers
US$0M
US$0.4M
US$0.8M
US$1.2M
US$1.6M
June July August September October November December January February March April
NBC NFL CBS NFL FOX NFL Madden 24 PC/Console Madden 24 Mobile
2023 2024

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Organic successes were still be found in 2023.
57
Key Art Game Key Stat Price at Launch
Estimated Ad Spend 2023
Notes
Baldur’s Gate 3
“Way” over 10 million players (1)
US$60 $4.2 million
Long awaited sequel to the classic RPG Baldur’s Gate 2 and made by the creators of the
acclaimed Divinity: Original Sin. Baldur’s Gate 3 comes from the older but surging Dungeons & Dragons IP and won Game of the Year 2023.
Lethal Company
Estimated 10 million + copies sold
US$10 0
Created by solo developer Zeekerss, Lethal Company checks many of the boxes for good
content: horror, humor, and multiplayer. Popular content creators picked up the game, and friends were eager to introduce Lethal Company to each other.
PalWorld
15 million Steam copies sold, 10 million Xbox players
US$30 $19k
Known colloquially as “Pokemon with Guns,” PalWorld is certainly an engaging game taking cues from survival games like Ark: Survival Evolved, but the inescapable comparison to Pokemon was the catalyst for its virality.
BattleBit
Remastered
3.7 million US$15 0
Created by a three man developer team, BattleBit Remastered is in many ways a
simplified version of EA’s Battlefield. Players touted its streamlined gameplay and simple monetization: $15 up front and no microtransactions.
Sources:
1.Michael Douse, Larian Studio Director of Publishing (https://twitter.com/Cromwelp/status/1761874915752325387 )
2.Push to Talk, steam-revenue-calculator.com
3.gematsu (https://www.gematsu.com/2024/02/palworld-early-access-tops-15-million-sales-on-steam-10-million-players-on-xbox )
4.GameDiscoverCo (https://newsletter.gamediscover.co/p/battlebit-remastered-how-did-it-sell)

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Fortnite had an especially diverse list of partners.
58
Creative Gallery, Jan 1, 2018 – Nov 30, 2023, All Countries/Regions
Fortnite is a platform as well as a game, allowing it to accommodate a wide variety of brands. One partnership to keep your eye on is Epic Games x Disney:
ultimate metaverse platform knowhow + arguably the top IPs in the world.

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Key Takeaways
| 59
• 2023 was a year for groundbreaking launches.
• YouTube is the primary ad channel for PC/Console games in the US.
• Top PC/Console games in 2023 all took advantage of huge existing audiences
to varying degrees.
• Fortnite is the top game by ad spend in US PC/console gaming 2023.
• Activision Blizzard is the top publisher by ad spend for US PC/console gaming
in 2023.
• Hogwarts Legacy was the biggest launch of 2023, both by sales and by ad
spend.
• Hogwarts Legacy messaged Harry Potter IP fantasy fulfillment expertly in its
launch campaign.
• Diablo IV was the biggest launch of 2Q2023 and its performance might be
underestimated given its live services.
• Diablo IV started running sales campaigns only a few months a”er launch.
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Key Takeaways
• Diablo IV was the biggest launch of 2Q2023 and its performance might be
underestimated given its live services.
• Diablo IV started running sales campaigns only a few months a”er launch.
• Starfield might have been the most highly anticipated game of 2023, being the
first original work from the creators of Skyrim and Fallout in 25 years.
• Starfield was available on Xbox’s Game Pass from Day 1, but still had a top 10
best selling performance of 2023.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 saw a mixed reception at launch, but still
managed to become the second best selling game of the year.
• Key diﬀerences can be spotted between how Activision ran the MW3
campaign and how they ran the MW2 campaign.
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Meet the Author
Sam Aune
Insights Analyst, Gaming
Sam is a Gaming Insights Analyst for Sensor Tower. He has experience
as a product manager in gaming and holds a Master’s of Business
Administration from the University of Southern California. Sam has
been passionate about games his entire life and now shares insights
about gaming from Sensor Tower with the industry through reports
and on LinkedIn.
| 61 © 2024 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved

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