The Creatives Room

Gaming Ads

Gaming has grown from a niche hobby to one of the world's largest entertainment categories, and its advertising has evolved with it. The best gaming campaigns have found ways to communicate the specific feeling of gaming - the immersion, the challenge, the community - to audiences both inside and outside the gaming world. Sony's PlayStation campaigns, Xbox's 'Jump In', and Nintendo's work introducing new audiences to games have all found creative ways to make digital worlds feel real and emotionally significant.

The campaigns in this collection

  1. Let’s Play Murder - Bloomsbury Children’s Books · Tom Sanderson · 2024

    Cover for Kesia Lupo's Let's Play Murder. The glitching neon type conjures a deadly VR game world - the immersive tech thriller where losing the game means dying for real.

  2. Coming soon, we’ll open stores in the gaming world - Almacenes Tía · WMG Ecuador · 2026

    A teaser announcing that the retailer is opening branches inside the games its customers already spend their time in, treating a virtual storefront as a straightforward extension of the chain rather than as a stunt.

  3. Gamer x Toothbrush - Duracell · 2019

    "Gamer x Toothbrush - Extra Power" for Duracell: an everyday device going strong makes the case for the battery's long-lasting power - the reliable charge behind daily gadgets.

  4. Vue Rules - Playstation · Venables Bell & Partners · 2017

    PlayStation "Vue Rules". A spot for the PlayStation Vue TV service.

  5. Live the Battlegrounds - Krafton

    Krafton dramatises the moment before play rather than the game itself. The insight: what a battle royale actually sells is the head-space a player drops into, so the film stages that psyche as an immersive world the person physically enters, treating the seconds before a match starts as the real pro

  6. Explore Mode On - Zalando

    BETC positioned Zalando Lounge, the off-price arm, as a treasure hunt rather than a discount bin. Explore Mode On frames the daily rotation of deals as something to be actively hunted through, and the campaign extended the idea past film into an interactive 360-degree landing page the viewer could s

  7. Play Has No Limit - Playstation · adam&eveDDB · 2021

    PlayStation "Play Has No Limit". PlayStation frames gaming as limitless, boundless play.

  8. Stunt Jump - PlayStation · 2025

    PlayStation "Stunt Jump". A PlayStation spot dramatising the thrill of action gaming.

  9. Play for Ontario - OLG · 2022

    OLG "Play for Ontario". An Ontario lottery spot framing play as supporting the province.

  10. The Future of Gaming - Xbox · COLOR

    Symmetrical wide of two young people sitting on a beige sofa playing with controllers in a cosy retro living room. Red-orange floral wallpaper, two warm table lamps and a low wooden coffee table set a 1970s domestic mood. The amber grade and centred framing keep both players and the softly lit room

  11. Descent - Playstation · Venables Bell & Partners · 2017

    PlayStation needed to reframe the PlayStation Store from a transactional digital storefront into an immersive destination that brings players closer to AAA titles. Grounded in the insight that gamers crave instant, visceral entry into game realities rather than passive catalog browsing, the creative

  12. Brings You Closer to What You Love - Microsoft · McCann · 2021

    Microsoft "Brings You Closer to What You Love". Microsoft frames its technology as bringing people closer to what they love.

  13. The First Light - Riot Games · Riot Games (in-house) · 2020

    Riot Games launched its tactical shooter, Valorant, into a competitive market dominated by legacy titles by establishing a distinct narrative identity that merged precise gunplay with character-driven lore. Knowing that competitive gamers crave both mechanical precision and a high-stakes world to in

  14. Bribe Bucket - KFC · TBWA\RAAD · 2025

    KFC Arabia enters Call of Duty by turning fried chicken into in-game currency: using proximity chat, downed players can negotiate their survival with KFC vouchers. The insight: the most powerful weapon in a shooter can be a bucket of chicken if you make it the bargaining chip, so hand players a way

  15. Baity Battle - Saudi Telecom Company · VML Dubai · 2023

    The first Fortnite mod synced to real time: during Ramadan, when MENA gaming surges and 99% of gamers lose track of time, Baity Battle connected the game clock to iftar - so play winds toward the meal instead of through it. The insight: don't ask gamers to stop for tradition; build the tradition int

  16. Play the Dew - Mountain Dew · BBDO Guerrero · 2025

    Mountain Dew claims its place in gaming with a single word: every possible in-game sound - gunfire, engines, alerts - reimagined as 'DEW', recreated across radio, film and a first-of-its-kind TikTok racing filter where saying 'DEW' controls the game. The insight: sonic branding taken to its logical

  17. Foosball Pizza Box - pizza hut · 2020

    Pizza Hut Hong Kong's Foosball Pizza Box, part of the "12th Player Club": with fans isolating at home for the new football season, the pizza box lid becomes a fully playable foosball table. The insight: match-night pizza was already the ritual; the brand upgraded its own packaging into the entertain

  18. Drive or Play - renault · Publicis Roma · 2015

    Renault promoted a Scénic bundled with a Sony PSP by making the car a place for two kinds of play. The insight: a family car's appeal is as much about keeping passengers happy as driving, so drive or play splits the experience between the parent at the wheel and the kids gaming in the back, selling

  19. Shake On It - ESPN · wieden+kennedy · 2007

    ESPN aimed to drive sign-ups for its Fantasy Football platform by tapping into the obsessive subculture of fantasy managers. Recognizing that players treat their online leagues with the mock-professional gravity of real NFL front offices, the campaign framed casual roster moves as high-stakes busine

  20. Game Responsibly - Battlegrounds Mobile India · 2021

    Following intense regulatory scrutiny and the ban of its predecessor PUBG Mobile in India, Krafton needed to proactively address parental and societal anxieties over youth gaming addiction to secure its license to operate. The brand tapped into the domestic tension of parents viewing mobile gaming a

  21. Virtual Homecoming - Burger King · 2021

    During pandemic lockdown, Burger King Chile worked with modders to build an exact replica of a Burger King restaurant inside the classic game GTA San Andreas, then invited fans to 'come home' to the one branch they could safely visit - and rewarded a virtual visit with real free Whoppers. The insigh

  22. Gamer Therapy - Gamer Therapy · The Community · 2021

    This initiative addressed the growing mental health crisis among young gamers who resist traditional clinical therapy due to social stigma and accessibility barriers. It tapped into the insight that gamers are most comfortable opening up and sharing personal struggles when they are in their natural,

  23. The Menu Court - Burger King · david madrid · 2021

    To make Burger King's value offers feel more like entertainment than a discount, the brand targeted basketball fans with a novel gaming platform. The core insight is that winning a prize is more exciting than redeeming a coupon. This led to 'The Menu Court,' a real basketball court where the lines a

  24. Los Santos +3ºC - Greenpeace · VMLY&R · 2022

    To make climate change feel urgent to a youth audience disconnected from the issue, the campaign tapped into the insight that gamers are deeply invested in their virtual worlds. The core idea was to simulate the effects of a 3°C temperature rise inside a world players already loved: Grand Theft Auto

Why this collection is worth studying

Gaming advertising is at an inflection point. As the audience has grown to include virtually every demographic, the old stereotypes and targeting assumptions no longer apply. The most interesting gaming campaigns in this collection are the ones that found ways to speak to the cultural significance of games - the stories they tell, the communities they create, the skills they develop - rather than just the mechanics of play.

See also

Best Gaming & Video Game Advertising Campaigns - The Creatives Room