How major film studios are reaching gamers to drive box office success

The high-stakes world of blockbuster filmmaking is not for the faint hearted. Pouring millions of dollars into the production of a major movie is only step one in the journey towards a box office success. With so much competition, studios are having to pull out all the stops in their marketing efforts in order to generate hype and capture the monumental revenue potential waiting at the box office gates.

In the last 12 to 18 months, major film studios have begun to uncover an indispensable audience lying in the adjacent entertainment vertical of gaming that is boosting their chances of box office success in a highly significant way.

The marketing landscape of major film studios

Last year‘s $1.44bn blowout hit Barbie became the highest-grossing movie in Warner Bros history, reportedly costing $145m to produce alongside $150m to market the movie. Mattel‘s pink publicity machine produced a frenzy of over 30 brand collaborations that included Airbnb, Bumble, Zara, Primark, Burger King, Crocs, Boohoo, Pinkberry, Gap and Forever 21 – and that was before the more traditional investment into billboards and celebrity-studded VIP parties we’ve come to expect for any new major movie release.

Interestingly, a sizeable chunk of the Barbie movie‘s advertising budget was dedicated directly to engaging gamers. Mattel’s partnership with gaming titan Microsoft led to Barbie-themed Xbox consoles and controllers, two downloadable Barbie-themed cars for racing game hit Forza Horizon 5, a Candy Crush collaboration and a casual mobile game set to be released this year.

To illustrate the point further, behind the curtain of Mattel’s expansive gaming strategy for the Barbie movie blowout was Mike DeLaet, their global head of digital gaming. More and more often, we are seeing dedicated marketing teams and personnel from within these studios whose primary role is to tap into the coveted and ever-growing audience of gamers. But why?

The interrelationship between movies and gaming

The symbiotic relationship between gaming and movies is of course a natural one. Both mediums thrive on storytelling, immersive experiences and the allure of entertainment. Those following Hollywood‘s movements closely would’ve already noticed this macro movement in real time, with the superhero craze of Marvel and DC swapping out in favour of bringing video games to the big screen.

In just the last 12 months we‘ve seen Universal Pictures release The Super Mario Bros Movie and horror game hit Five Nights at Freddy’s, Paramount Pictures with Sonic The Hedgehog 3, Sony Pictures with Gran Turismo, Netflix with League of Legends animated TV hit Arcane, Amazon Prime with video game IP Fallout, HBO’s The Last of Us and Warner Bros announcing the highly anticipated 2025 release of Minecraft: The Movie.

But away from these direct crossovers, major film studios are looking to reach gamers as a major marketing component of every new release, regardless of the film genre. According to a survey conducted in March 2024, 76% of adults in the United States play video games on at least one platform, and in 2017 Warner Media-owned gamer programming company Machinima found that close to 100% of gamers go to the movies at least once a year, versus 71% of the entire US population. The same study found some 17% of gamers see at least 12 movies a year, compared with 11% of the general population, and 83% see between two and 11 movies a year, versus 60% of the entire country.

The same study by Machinima found that gamers’ genre preferences carry over to their film choices. Fans of action games are 34% more likely than the rest of the population to see an action movie on its opening weekend. Those who like role playing games are 31% more likely to see a sci-fi film when it opens. Fans of fighting games are 30% more likely to see a horror film when it opens. And those who like sandbox games, enabling them to wander through a virtual world, are 36% more likely to see an animated movie.

The fandom formula

A primary component of the synergistic impact between movies and gaming centres on the concept of fandom. Tapping into massive fan communities has become a key strategy of every major entertainment brand due to their higher levels of passion, engagement and propensity to share content on social media (that often drives virality).

Gaming, in particular, boasts some of the most dedicated and enthusiastic fandoms, making it a goldmine for studios looking to promote their films. These communities are not just casual players; they are deeply invested in their favourite games and characters, often forming tight-knit online groups where they discuss, share and celebrate their interests. This fervour is why studios have seen such success with both adapting gaming IP to the big screen and using gaming advertising to boost film promotions.

How major film studios are reaching gamers during play

With the crossover between movies and gaming playing out like the perfect love story, film studios and their marketing teams are cornering this audience in many kinds of ways. Of course studios are tapping gaming influencers and streamers to attend red carpet events or produce native content on their own channels ahead of a movie’s release – but the motion of travel is now being directed to blending this out-of-game marketing with in-game activations for exponential impact.

For example, for Warner Bros Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire release back in March, traditional social and influencer campaigns were blended with playable and interactive trailers for the movie inside the virtual gaming universe of Roblox. To generate more hype for the release of Kung Fu Panda 4, Universal Pictures expanded into Roblox with a playable obstacle course. Even more recently, there is speculation all over social media about a potential Fortnite collaboration to promote the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine movie set to be released this month.

What makes these examples so innovative is that they are attempting to engage gamers in their natural environment of play – that is to say, whilst they’re actively playing inside the game and not just outside of it through watching content on social media.

Genre-targeting with gaming ad tech platforms

Building on this, a new wave of ad tech platforms are going even further to alleviate the work for major film studios to reach gamers in the simplest way possible. Crucially, these solutions relieve advertisers from the complex and often arduous development work needed to hardcode brand messaging inside one specific game, and instead, offer a light-touch and scalable way to reach gamers across thousands of different games at the same time at a fraction of the cost.

Overwolf Ads, whose clients include Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, MGM, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and more, allows film studios to reach over 100 million gamers monthly through its innovative owned-and-operated platform, bundling gamers by the genre of games they’re playing and serving ads in native formats across hundreds of the world’s biggest titles (Minecraft, Fortnite, Call of Duty, League of Legends and more).

The interest crossover between movies and games allows for studios to utilise ‘genre-targeting’, a technique that aligns upcoming movie releases with games that correspond to that release’s genre and serve in-stream trailers and interactive ads during play. For instance, an upcoming horror movie could be targeted to gamers playing the world’s most popular horror game titles, all without having to create bespoke activations within each game.

Contextual alignment and moment-triggered ads

While genre-targeting is a game-changer for reaching the right audience, contextual alignment is equally critical in ensuring that ads resonate on a deeper level. This means not just targeting gamers who enjoy specific genres but also engaging them precisely while they are immersed in relevant content. For instance, reaching players in the midst of a horror game with a trailer for an upcoming horror movie will inevitably create a more impactful and memorable experience than simply reaching them on social media.

Studios can now utilise ad tech platforms like Overwolf Ads to trigger event-based ads (alongside trailers) during gameplay that pop up based on specific actions in-game. For example, if a player wins, loses, scores a triple kill or reaches a level up, branded messages can appear that meet gamers at their peak emotional moments with custom visuals promoting an upcoming movie release in a way that is specific to that particular game.

This contextual relevance ensures that the advertising feels natural and enhances the gaming experience rather than disrupting it. By aligning ads with the player’s current activity and emotional state, studios can create a more seamless and engaging promotional experience that resonates with gamers on a personal level.

The future of box office success with gamers

As the industry continues to evolve, the lines between gaming and cinema are blurring even further. Studios that can master this integration will not only boost their box office numbers but also set new benchmarks for audience engagement in the digital age. The future here is clear: to reach the modern moviegoer, studios are speaking the language of gamers, making every cinematic adventure a game worth playing.

Overwolf Ads is a world-leading gaming platform empowering brands and advertisers to reach over 100 million monthly gamers across hundreds of the world’s biggest titles and premium gaming websites.  We’re trusted by global brands and agencies such as Universal Pictures, P&G, Dr Pepper, AMD, Monster Energy, Nissan, KFC, WPP, Dentsu, Havas and more. Interested? Learn about us here.