XBOX -ATARI: GAME OVER
A Campaign to Unearth Video Game History
A Dream. A Dig. A Documentary.
Legend was, in the early eighties, Atari dispatched dump trucks filled with overstock in the New Mexico desert. The prime culprit? The so-called ‘worst video game of all time’ E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial for the Atari 2600. We set out on a mission to find out if it was true. We ended up discovering an industry passionate to explore its roots.
FILM DEVELOPMENT
From permits, to archaeologists, to eye-witnesses, two years of research and investigation were invested into build a timeline, uncovering the story and garnering support form the community. We worked with XBOX Entertainment to greenlight this incredible documentary
PR CAMPAIGN
We managed a global PR campaign to drive interest in this once-in-a-lifetime pop culture initiative. Everyone from the BBC to Wired took note. This film won Best Documentary at The Streamy Awards.
THE CONFERENCE CIRCUIT
From SXSW to San Diego Comic-Con, we ran an intensive campaign circuit bringing together some of the most legendary and respected names in film and gaming to delight geek audiences everywhere.
EXECUTION
In late April, 2014, with thousands of fans having traveled to watch and international media outlets at the ready with cameras, dig crews uncovered a treasure trove of Atari games buried underneath the Alamogordo New Mexico sands.
The Payoff
To sum it all up (and foot the hefty bill!) we brought Xbox on board to execute a feat of modern pop culture archaeology, all wrapped up in an exclusive Netflix documentary, directed by Zak Penn. The documentary was one of the most-watched Netflix products that year.
Key Numbers
The story lit up media outlets from the most established newspapers to the newest online platforms. There was a perfect nexus of interest between pop culture obsession, treasure hunting, and Americana, that people simply couldn’t resist.
Gamers and pop culture enthusiasts of every stripe made their way down to Alamogordo New Mexico to celebrate what some outlets called ‘the Woodstock for gaming geeks’.
