Arena Breakout: Infinite Case Study

The Situation

It’s easy to understand why the extraction shooter genre has evolved from niche to mainstream in recent years. Filled with adrenaline-pumping combat, nail-biting survival mechanics, and a kill-or-be-killed gameplay approach, the genre has captured the attention of players all over the world and continues to rapidly grow in popularity.

Arena Breakout: Infinite’s CBT on PC was announced and launched when the extraction shooter genre was a trending topic within the industry. Gray Zone Warfare, launched its extraction shooter into Steam’s Early Access program one week prior to the start of Infinite’s CBT, while the uber-popular Escape From Tarkov was experiencing sustained consumer backlash due to the announcement of an expensive new SKU. 

With more developers attempting to find success in the space, Reverb Communications aimed to elevate MoreFun Studios’ ultra-realistic immersive military extraction shooter Arena Breakout: Infinite among its competitors during the game’s first Closed Beta Test (CBT) in May 2024.

The Strategy

Reverb capitalized on the industry’s attention by targeting media and influencers covering the topic with clear differentiated messaging highlighting the game’s beginner-friendliness, anti-cheat measures and free access.

The communication strategy for Arena Breakout: Infinite kicked off with an exclusive title announcement on IGN’s homepage and YouTube channel in late April with top placement. A press release was later distributed to North American outlets, resulting in pickup from preeminent media including Forbes, Dexerto, PCGamesN, Insider Gaming and Sportskeeda.

Reverb harnessed the momentum of Infinite’s reveal by releasing a 4K gameplay trailer one week later alongside a launch date for the title’s first CBT. In early May, one day before the CBT’s launch, an uncut 13-minute gameplay video was published exclusively on IGN’s homepage and YouTube channel. The video was later distributed to outlets across North America and Europe, resulting in additional pickup from targeted media such as PC Invasion, Charlie Intel, Dot Esports, Playground, GameStar and Everyeye.

Throughout the CBT’s launch period, Reverb secured feature placements among both broad consumer and specialized gaming outlets, with a focus on top-tier PC, first-person shooter (FPS) and esports platforms. This resulted in nearly 200 pieces of coverage with an estimated audience of 6 billion readers and 7.5 million estimated views. Over 300,000 views were garnered on IGN’s YouTube channel alone.

In addition to news distribution, Reverb meticulously curated press and streamer target lists tailored for Arena Breakout: Infinite, which included hundreds of press and streamer targets who previously covered the genre.  Beta codes were distributed to top-tier media including Gamespot, PC Gamer, Gamereactor, Gaming Bible, Rock Paper Shotgun, Shacknews and NME. This approach also yielded an interview with VentureBeat, one of the gaming industry’s leading voices among consumers and luminaries.

Targeted influencer outreach resulted in 800+ videos and over 7,000 streams, as well as 488 million minutes watched with nearly 8.6 million views. Well-known creators with considerable extraction shooter experience like DrDisRespect, DrLupo, JackFrags, LevelCapGaming, Westie, Aculite, Handler and Tomographic published their video impressions onto YouTube, while others like Shroud, LIRIK, CDNThe3rd, JoshOG, LVNDMARK, Grimmmz, Cloakzy and Papaplatte streamed the game on Twitch. Reverb’s dedicated team personally coordinated with influencers to guide them through the whitelisting process and resolve system-specific technical issues as they arose.

Alienware Partnership

To enhance the CBT’s visibility among Arena Breakout: Infinite’s targeted PC gaming audience, Reverb Communications used their industry relationships to form a partnership with Alienware Arena, a free online platform that offers PC players access to curated gaming content, soon after the test’s launch. Reverb coordinated with Alienware Arena to ensure its members knew how to redeem their codes and were aware of the CBT’s whitelist dates and times ahead of code availability.

All Alienware Arena members were notified via email once codes became available. Combined with prominent placement on the platform’s front page, this resulted in all 10,000 Alienware Arena CBT keys being redeemed in only 45 minutes.

Conclusion/The Results

Arena Breakout: Infinite’s CBT garnered positive reception across North America and Europe as a viable alternative within the extraction shooter genre ahead of the game’s full launch. Reverb’s holistic approach and targeted public relations, marketing and influencer initiatives allowed Arena Breakout: Infinite to become one of the most popular titles on YouTube and Twitch and climb to the top of Steam’s most wishlisted games chart in only seven days. In fact, over 1,000,000 Steam wishlists were achieved within one week of the CBT’s launch.

Despite an oversaturated market, Reverb Communications succeeded in securing extensive coverage from influential gaming outlets and creators, laying a foundation for future feature articles and video streams and ensuring Arena Breakout: Infinite remains on top of the charts as one of the most discussed extraction shooters on the market.

Reverb has a proven track record elevating games above the noise. Ready to stand apart?