The heart of tag fighters is the breadth and depth of their character roster. So much of what viewers and comic fans love about the Invincible Universe is the characters, from the wild and wacky Rex Splode to the terrifying and powerful Battle Beast. We knew that character reveals would be the cornerstone of early marketing strategy for Invincible VS, and we wanted each new character to be announced in impactful and unique formats that drove conversation in the endemic world of fighting games as well as that wider cultural conversation happening amongst Invincible franchise fans.
Battle Beast
Battle Beast is one of the Invincible franchise’s most beloved baddies - and the face of one of the comic series best-selling issues of all time.
To debut this ferocious feline as a playable character, we developed a rollout campaign that leaned into the comic world, unleashing the Beast’s gameplay trailer live onstage at San Diego Comic Con during a panel helmed by Invincible co-creator Robert Kirkman. Top that off with an exclusive variant cover of Battle Beast issue 1 featuring VS game art and a signing event at Now or Never Comics in San Diego to create excitement with a must-have collectible that drove even more conversation around the announce. We kept the chatter going with a deep dive to share more of his gameplay style and move set.
Omni Man
Nolan Grayson AKA Omni Man is a cornerstone of the Invincible Universe, the uber-powerful, morally grey father figure at the heart of the story. As one of the most popular characters in the franchise, we knew we had to give Omni Man a grand reveal.
We worked with the Evo team to coordinate a debut of Omni Man’s gameplay trailer on the Evo Mainstage, creating an electrifying moment of crowd excitement with a build up to Omni Man’s brutal ultimate move. Once announced, players could head back to our Evo booth to a freshly unveiled Omni Man photo opportunity, but they’d have to wait to play until Gamescom, where we partnered with Xbox to offer a first hands-on playable of Omni Man to attendees and press.
Cecil Stedman
Our announcement of Cecil as a fighter on the Invincible VS roster was the first true surprise we presented players. Cecil is a badass in the show and comics who rarely sees combat, so players weren’t expecting to see him fighting alongside our heroes in glorious battle.
Once again, we leaned in to the comics side of things, hosting a popup event at New York Comic Con where we took over OSNYC for two nights: one VIP event for press and creators, and one day where the general public could get their hands on Invincible VS for the very first time. Guests enjoyed a themed drink menu, a massive VS mural, custom swag, and facing off in bloody battle on 16 pre-loaded Corsair machines.
In order to maximize our reach beyond the footprint of NYCC, we hosted a livestream from within the venue, using that as our platform to debut Cecil’s gameplay trailer.
