Unlocking audiences to launch a global franchise
When Netflix Germany launched Rebel Moon's cinematic universe, we created an unlikely gateway for fans in Farming Simulator, creating a custom modded map and debuting it on Twitch with top German streamers - a sci-fi spectacle in its own right.
To excite the community-driven Sci-Fi audiences, we created an experience & event they wanted to be a part of. To make this happen, we harnessed the power of gaming to invite fans into the story.
While Rebel Moon was set in far off galaxies, the first part of the movie was actually spent in a simple farming village. With farming games being popular with German audiences, and a way to connect our world to theirs in an authentic way, Farming Simulator was the perfect place to step into the Rebel Moon world.
Recreating the world of ‘Veldt’ through a modded map in Farming Simulator 22 the game brought to life the film’s stunning visuals, truly immersing the audience. Using a combination of VFX assets of Veldt, native features, custom Rebel Moon themed UI, and bespoke never-seen-in-Farming-Sim-before gameplay/tools.
We weren’t just building the world, we were continuing the story. The farming village had been left in peril, Admiral Noble had demanded an impossible amount of grain to feed his army. To bring our game to eager audiences, we recruited a band of expert farmers to take up the challenge from the Admiral and work together to collect the grain.
The lucky recruits for this mission? 9 big-personality gaming influencers in Germany. Some were experts at Farming Simulator, one was even a real farmer. Others were newer to the game – a cosplayer, a popular gaming enthusiast, and even a German TV host. Collectively they had over a million followers on Twitch, all our prime audience.
With a rallying call from Zak Snyder himself on X, the farming heroes joined together on Twitch for a thrilling harvesting challenge, live-streamed to German audiences. This painstakingly planned 3-hour event had dust storms blurring their vision, cosmic radiation reversing their controls, and even the chance to meet characters from the film!
The event was…. chaotic.
Which is exactly why
10,000 viewers stuck around for the whole thing! A massive 85% positive sentiment.
In total, the launch event generated a watch time of 1,620,000 minutes. Equivalent to streaming the movie over 12,000 times.
We then made the game available for the fans to play themselves! This led to playthroughs on YouTube, Twitch, and articles on FanWiki.
The Rebel Harvest expanded the Rebel Moon universe and brought the fans into the film.