Activision Blizzard is one of the world’s largest interactive gaming companies, with more than 13,000 employees developing franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush. Employees work across North America, Europe and Asia under ABK’s three divisions of Activision, Blizzard and King. Its games are played by more than 400 million players per month.

In 2022, the business expanded the Talent Brand function so it would play a critical role in attracting and retaining talent across all brands and divisions, and wanted to try something new – in-game recruitment advertising. Knowing that many employees were fans of the games before they joined, ABK knew it could increase employer brand exposure this way.

The team trialled three executions: Message of the Day in Call of Duty (when a player logs on); Battle.net (advertising across the platform, which attracts thousands of daily users); and in-game ads during the popular Candy Crush puzzle game. Across the three campaigns, ABK attracted hundreds of thousands of clicks and more than 1,200 applications. The career site received more than 700,000 visitors and the approach was discussed on LinkedIn, generating organic awareness for the campaign.