Assassin's Creed 3 sweeps 2013 Game Marketing Awards
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Developers make the games you love, but they don't usually make the things that convince you to try the games you end up loving. That's why, every year, an award ceremony honours the best of the industry's marketing. In the last 12 months, Assassin's Creed 3 was clearly the winner.
Assassin's Creed 3 scored a whopping 15 gold silver and bronze gongs at the 2013 Game Marketing Awards. Microsoft came in second with six for Halo 4.
In terms of publishers, Ubisoft scored a massive number of awards across a broad range of categories, thanks to Just Dance 4, Far Cry 3 and Assassin's Creed 3. Activision Blizzard didn't do too badly either, with wins for Skylanders, Call of Duty and Diablo.
It's interesting to note how often the same couple of agencies pop up. Just glancing over the categories and perusing the winners also gives you quite a bit of insight into the massive marketing machine that powers so much of what we all do.
The full list of winners is below, carefully stripped from the event's website.
- Outstanding TV or theatrical ad
Gold: Halo 4 Scanned, Microsoft Xbox
Silver: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Reveal, Activision/The Ant Farm
Bronze: Assassin's Creed 3 In-Cinema :60, Ubisoft/The Ant Farm - Funniest video asset
Gold: Kinect Star Wars Girl Vader, Microsoft Xbox
Silver: Far Cry 3 Monkey Business Pack, Trailer Park & Ubisoft
Bronze: EA Sports Madden 13 "Madden Forever" - Interview, Heat - Outstanding promotional trailer
Gold: Just Dance 4 E3 Announcement Trailer, Buster
Silver: Assassin's Creed 3 "Launch Trailer", Ubisoft and The Ant Farm
Bronze: PlanetSide 2 "Death is No Excuse", Sony Online Entertainment & Blur - Best game footage trailer
Gold: Borderlands 2 "Wimoweh" Traile, g-NET, 2K & Gearbox
Silver: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Reveal, Activision/The Ant Farm
Bronze: Far Cry 3 Story Trailer, Ubisoft/The Ant Farm - Best long format featuring promotional content
Gold: Dishonored - "Tales from Dunwall", Psyop / Rokkan / Evolution Music Partners / DeFacto Sound / Bethesda Softworks
Silver: Assassin's Creed III: Inside Assassin's Creed III, Ubisoft/Modus Operandi
Bronze: The Final Hours of Tomb Raider Video Series, g-NET & Crystal Dynamics - Best live action promotional content
Gold: Angry Birds - "Launch TV:60", Activision/The Ant Farm
Silver: Mass Effect 3 - Fight, Electronic Arts
Bronze: Just Dance 4 - "Justin Bieber Surprise", Ubisoft/The Ant Farm - Outstanding overall marketing campaign of the year
Gold: Halo 4, Microsoft Xbox
Silver: Just Dance 4, Ubisoft
Bronze: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, 72andSunny - Outstanding overall marketing campaign - core games
Gold: EA Sports Madden 13 "Madden Forever", Heat
Silver: Halo 4, Microsoft Xbox
Bronze: Far Cry 3 Campaign, Ubisoft - Outstanding overall marketing campaign - family games
Gold: Nike + Kinect Training, Microsoft Xbox
Silver: Just Dance 4, Ubisoft
Bronze: Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, Disney Interactive/The Ant Farm - Outstanding overall marketing campaign - mobile games
Gold: The Simpsons Tapped Out, Electronic Arts
Silver: ATVI Mobile - "Pitfall, Anthology, And Wipeout", ATVI/The Ant Farm
Bronze: Mobile App Global Challenge, appsasia - Standout print advertisement
Gold: Assassin's Creed 3 "Into Battle", Ubisoft
Silver: God of War: Ascension, Sony Computer Entertainment America & PETROL
Bronze: Sleeping Dogs Print Ads, Square Enix - Standout ad campaign
Gold: Halo 4, Microsoft Xbox
Silver: Assassin's Creed 3 Lifecycle Print Campaign, Ubisoft
Bronze: Dishonored - Ad Campaign, Bethesda Softworks / Rokkan / Fearless Media - Standout outdoor advertisement
Gold: Assassin's Creed 3 Outdoor Campaign, Ubisoft
Silver: Halo 4 E3 OOH, Microsoft Xbox
Bronze: Borderlands 2 Wallscapes, 2K Games - Standout overall point of purchase display
Gold: Halo 4 Countdown Counter Unit, Origin LLC
Silver: Dead Island: Riptide Best Buy Display, Square Enix / Deep Silver:
Bronze: Halo 4 GameStop End cap, Origin LLC - Best non-traditional product packaging
Gold: Skylanders Giants Starter Kit, Activision and Hamagami/Carroll Inc.
Silver: Skylanders Giants Portal Owners Pack, Activision and Hamagami/Carroll Inc.
Bronze: Skylanders Giants Single Character Packages, Activision and Hamagami/Carroll Inc. - Best limited edition, special edition or collector's edition
Gold: Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Care Package, Activision & PETROL
Silver: Diablo III Collector's Edition, Blizzard Entertainment
Bronze: Assassin's Creed 3 Limited Edition, Ubisoft - Best showing at a trade event
Gold: PAX East 2012: Ubisoft Booth Activation, Ubisoft
Silver: Activision Skylanders, Toy Fair 2012, Ignited/Activision
Bronze: Activision E3 2012, Ignited/Activision/The Ant Farm - Best retail marketing campaign
Gold: Tomb Raider, Square Enix and Midnight Oil Creative
Silver: Skylanders Giants, Activision and Midnight Oil Creative
Bronze: Assassin's Creed 3, Ubisoft and Midnight Oil Creative - Best trade collateral
Gold: Raiden's Arm, Ignited/Konami
Silver: Family Guy Manager Mailer, Activision and Midnight Oil Creative
Bronze: Assassin's Creed 3 Alex Ross Steelbook, Ubisoft - Best website for a product
Gold: Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, Soap Creative & Activision
Silver: Sleeping Dogs, Future US / MoreYellow
Bronze: Assassin's Creed III: Portal, Ubisoft/Pop - Best digital advertising campaign
Gold: Assassin's Creed III: Online Banners, Ubisoft/Modus Operandi
Silver: Prototype 2, Soap Creative & Activision
Bronze: Guild Wars 2 "We Are The Brave", Ayzenberg Group & ArenaNet - Best use of digital media or use of digital social media marketing
Gold: Halo 4, AKQA
Silver: Black Ops II, SapientNitro
Bronze: Action Movie FX App, 72andSunny - Best use of music in a promotional piece
Gold: Borderlands 2 "Wimoweh" Trailer, g-NET, 2K & Gearbox
Silver: ZombiU, Ubisoft
Bronze: Dishonored - "Drunken Whaler", COPILOT / Rokkan / Bethesda Softworks - Best use of sound design
Gold: Call of Duty: China Reveal, Activision/The Ant Farm
Silver: Dead Space 3 "Turn it Off" Trailer, g-NET
Bronze: Dishonored, Defacto Sound & Bethesda Softworks - Best copywriting for static media or online
Gold: Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Reviewer's Guide, Off Base Productions
Silver: Call of Duty: Black Ops II - "Rightfull King" Kindle Short Story, Armed Mind
Bronze: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Activision & Petrol - Best copywriting for a video asset
Gold: Assassin's Creed 3 In-Cinema :60, Ubisoft/The Ant Farm
Silver: Far Cry 3 Launch Trailer, g-NET
Bronze: Far Cry 3 Story Trailer, Ubisoft/The Ant Farm - Best product logo design
Gold: Star Wars 1313, LucasArts and Hamagami/Carroll Inc.
Silver: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Activision & PETROL
Bronze: Skylanders Giants, Activision and Hamagami/Carroll Inc. - Best key art
Gold: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Ignited/Konami
Silver: Sleeping Dogs Key Art, Square Enix
Bronze: Assassin's Creed 3 Limited Edition Box, Ubisoft - Best promotional partnership
Gold: Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote Campaign, EA Sports, ESPN and Fleishman-Hillard
Silver: EA Sports and ESPN - Partnership, Electronic Arts, ESPN
Bronze: Just Dance 4 - Cheetos Partnership, Ubisoft - Best product announcement
Gold: Resident Evil 6 Announcement Strategy, Capcom and Tangible Media
Silver: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Reveal, Activision/The Ant Farm
Bronze: Deadpool Announcement, Ignited/Activision - Most effective buzz generating tactic
Gold: Assassin's Creed III: YouTube Influencer Campaign, Ubisoft/Plaid Social Labs/Alloy Digital
Silver: Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote Campaign, EA SPORTS, ESPN and Fleishman-Hillard
Bronze: Halo 4 Glyph, Microsoft Xbox / AKQA - Thinking outside of the box
Gold: Halo 4 Glyph, Microsoft Xbox / AKQA
Silver: Just Dance 4 - "Justin Bieber Surprise", Ubisoft/The Ant Farm
Bronze: Hip Hop Dance Experience NFL Program, Ubisoft - Best swag
Gold: Far Cry 3 Real Tattoos, Ubisoft
Silver: Assassin's Creed 3 Adidas Shoes, Ubisoft
Thanks, Kotaku.