AION × Live community play
Turning viewers into players
Gameforge · AION: The Tower of Eternity · Italy
- Go-to-market
- Performance marketing
- Creator partnerships
- Analytics
7 min read3 of 3
- The challenge
- A free-to-play MMORPG launch needed genuinely interested players, and traditional display campaigns offered little confidence in install quality.
- The approach
- Turn a creator’s livestream into a participatory launch moment, built on a tracked acquisition flow and a clear KPI framework.
- The outcome
- 20,000 installs in four hours, alongside high live participation and strong community engagement.
AION needed more than installs. As a free-to-play MMORPG, its launch depended on attracting people who would enter the game, play with others and return after their first session.
Traditional display campaigns could generate reach and clicks, but they offered little confidence that an install came from a genuinely interested player. Gameforge needed acquisition activity connected to early engagement, while working with a limited number of traffic sources able to meet its quality expectations.
I identified an opportunity in the Italian gaming community: turn a creator’s livestream into a participatory launch moment.
The result was a live gameplay activation with Italian creator Favij, where viewers could install AION through a tracked link and join him live in the game. The campaign generated 20,000 installs in four hours and demonstrated how creator trust, community participation and performance measurement can work together.
My role: Product Marketing and Performance Marketing lead. I researched the opportunity, contacted Favij’s management, developed the campaign concept and brief, designed the tracked acquisition flow and KPI framework, coordinated approvals and assets, monitored performance and shared campaign insights with Gameforge.
1. Start with the real launch problem
The obvious objective was user acquisition: drive installs for AION in Italy.
The more important question was:
«How can we acquire players who are likely to play, engage and become part of the game community?»
For an MMORPG, an install is only the beginning. The product needs players to progress through onboarding, understand the game, find social connection and return. A campaign that delivers a high volume of accidental or low-intent installs can look successful at the top of the funnel while creating weak results later.
| What the launch needed | What a traditional CPI campaign could miss | What the activation needed to create |
|---|---|---|
| Reach the right audience | A click does not show whether someone wants to play an MMORPG | A reason to install based on real gameplay |
| Generate measurable installs | Creator content can be difficult to connect to conversion | A dedicated, tracked download path |
| Encourage early engagement | An install does not guarantee that the game is opened or played | A live reason to enter the game immediately |
| Protect media efficiency | A flat creator fee does not align payment with acquisition | Performance-based compensation tied to tracked installs |
| Build credibility | Highly scripted promotion can feel like advertising | A creator-led live format that felt natural to the community |
Participation can pre-qualify users before they install.
2. Find a community with a reason to act
Favij’s community was built around gameplay, live interaction and a highly active Italian gaming audience.
The fit was clear.
| AION | Favij’s community | Campaign opportunity |
|---|---|---|
| A social MMORPG where shared play matters | A community already gathering around live gameplay | Invite viewers to join a real shared session |
| A product that benefits from seeing gameplay before committing | Followers who trusted the creator’s reactions and recommendations | Let the game be demonstrated in its real context |
| A need for accountable user acquisition | A creator able to direct a large audience to one clear action | Use a tracked link and pay for validated installs |
I contacted Favij’s management through YouTube’s official contact channel and proposed a simple idea:
«Favij would play AION live. His followers could download the game through a dedicated link and join him in the same moment.»
The value for the community was direct. They were not only invited to watch a sponsored game. They were invited to participate in an event with a creator they followed and with other players joining for the same reason.
3. Design the campaign around one clear journey
The campaign had to be easy to understand and easy to measure.
See teaser → Watch the live stream → Download through the tracked link → Join the game → Play with the community
| Campaign element | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Light pre-launch teasers | Create anticipation without explaining away the live experience |
| YouTube livestream | Show authentic gameplay and create a shared moment |
| Verbal and on-screen calls to action | Make the next action clear while viewers were engaged |
| Dedicated tracked link | Attribute installs to the activation and support CPI measurement |
| “Play with me” invitation | Give viewers a social reason to install immediately |
| Live acknowledgement and chat interaction | Reinforce participation as viewers saw others joining |
| Post-event highlights | Extend discovery and capture people who missed the live event |
The tracked link created a measurable conversion path from the stream to download. It also enabled a performance-based creator agreement: compensation was tied to actual attributed installs rather than a flat media fee.
4. Protect creator trust
A heavily scripted livestream would have weakened the idea.
Gaming audiences recognise the difference between a creator enjoying a game and a creator reading an advert. The campaign needed enough structure to make the activity measurable, while allowing Favij space to react naturally to the game and his community.
I coordinated:
- A campaign brief that clarified the experience, the CTA and the tracked download path
- Creative and messaging approval for on-screen assets and the video description
- A clear livestream moment and pre-launch teaser schedule
- Direct wording focused on participation: playing together live at a specific time
- Performance monitoring during and after the event
- A post-event recap plan to extend the campaign beyond the live window
The most effective message was not a long explanation of AION’s features.
It was the invitation:
«Join the live gameplay. Download AION and play with us.»
5. Measure more than views
Views were useful context, but they were not the success measure on their own.
| Funnel stage | What I monitored | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Stream views, reach and audience activity | Indicates whether the launch moment reached the intended community |
| Engagement | Chat activity, live participation and audience response | Shows whether the format created a real shared experience |
| Conversion | Clicks on the dedicated link and attributed installs | Connects creator activity to accountable acquisition |
| Cost efficiency | Cost per tracked install | Aligns spend with the agreed performance model |
| Early quality | Initial gameplay and engagement signals | Helps distinguish active players from low-intent installs |
| Extended impact | Installs and interest after recap content | Shows whether the activation continued to influence late adopters |
Detailed performance data remains confidential. The campaign generated 20,000 installs in four hours, alongside high live participation and strong community engagement.
What the campaign proved
| Learning | What it meant in practice |
|---|---|
| Participation can reduce acquisition uncertainty | Shared live play gave viewers a reason to install that went beyond curiosity |
| Creator trust works best when the format fits the creator | Authentic gameplay was more credible than a scripted endorsement |
| Measurement should support the commercial model | Tracked installs made the creator agreement accountable and transparent |
| Community interaction can increase conversion momentum | Seeing others join created social proof during the live event |
| Post-event content can extend value | Highlights and recap content continued to reach late adopters |
| Quality matters more than install volume alone | The most useful acquisition activity is connected to early product engagement |
What I brought to the project
This project reflects how I approach product and growth work: begin with the user behaviour that creates value, then design the message, journey, measurement and operational plan around it.
I brought together:
- Audience and market research
- Creator and stakeholder coordination
- Product positioning and campaign concept development
- Performance-based acquisition design
- Tracking-link conversion measurement
- Creative brief and approval management
- Live campaign monitoring
- Post-campaign analysis and insight sharing
The strongest go-to-market activity gives the right audience a clear reason to act now, then makes that action measurable.