In the games industry, traditional advertising just doesn’t cut through the noise anymore. Players are tuning it out and turning to creators they actually trust for recommendations. This is exactly where influence marketing connects a game directly to an authentic endorsement. VIVA! Games, a mid-sized publisher known for its immersive RPGs, just ran a campaign for its new title, Aethelgard Chronicles, that gives us a great look into what actually drives engagement and gets players to sign up. The big question is, how did they pull off a 3.2x return on ad spend in such a packed market?

Campaign Overview: Aethelgard Chronicles Launch

For the Q3 2026 launch of Aethelgard Chronicles, VIVA! Games set a big goal: 200,000 new players in three months. Their main weapon was a big influence marketing push to support their usual digital ads. They put a budget of $250,000 on the table for a 10-week campaign running from August 1 to October 10, 2026.

The campaign’s primary objective was direct player acquisition, specifically measured by game downloads and how many people completed the in-game tutorial. The targets were aggressive: keeping cost per lead (CPL) below $10.00 and the cost per new player under $15.00. Based on the game’s projected lifetime value (LTV), we were hoping for a 2.5x return on ad spend (ROAS), which felt like a conservative but solid goal.

They spread the campaign across three main platforms. Twitch was for live gameplay and getting the community involved. TikTok was all about short, high-impact content. YouTube was where they went for longer, more detailed reviews and game analysis. Each platform had a specific job to do in getting a person from seeing the game for the first time to actually playing it.

Strategy Breakdown: Tiered Influencer Approach

VIVA! Games went with a tiered influencer strategy, knowing that creators of different sizes bring different things to the table. Our budget allocation was very deliberate:

• 60% of budget ($150,000): Micro-influencers on TikTok and Twitch (10,000 to 100,000 followers). We knew these creators have crazy high engagement and super dedicated, niche followings.
• 30% of budget ($75,000): Mid-tier influencers (100,000 to 1 million followers) on all three platforms, who offered a good mix of reach and engagement.
• 10% of budget ($25,000): Macro-influencers (1 million+ followers) on YouTube, chosen for their massive reach and name recognition.

This budget split wasn’t a random guess, it followed a clear industry pattern. A 2025 IAB report on gaming influence confirmed what we were seeing: micro-influencers consistently get 2-3x higher engagement rates than the big names for these kinds of campaigns, and they cost way less per impression. Our own numbers pointed in the same direction, so we felt confident about putting most of our chips on the micro-tier.

Creator Selection and Relationship Management

Picking the right creators was about a lot more than just looking at follower counts. We dug into the data using tools like Grabyo for Twitch and TikTok’s own Creator Marketplace, looking at everything from audience demos and past campaign results to view duration and real engagement (not just bot likes). We made a point to find creators who were actual RPG fans, so the sponsorship would feel natural. On Twitch, for example, we zeroed in on streamers who were constantly talking with their chat while playing, because that’s where you find the really strong communities.

We paid them using a hybrid model that worked really well: a flat fee upfront for their time, plus performance bonuses for every unique game download they drove through their custom tracking links. This model encouraged creators to push for actual conversions. We gave them briefs with the key game features and messages, but we also gave them a ton of creative freedom because we wanted it to be authentic. You have to find that balance. If you over-script it, the content just feels like a cheap ad and nobody buys it.

Creative Approach: Authenticity Over Polish

The whole creative plan for Aethelgard Chronicles was about showing real player experiences. We intentionally skipped the slick, cinematic trailers and went for raw, unscripted gameplay instead. Here’s what that looked like in practice:

• Twitch: It was all live playthroughs and “first impressions” streams. We also ran community challenges like a “Speedrun Challenge” for a specific dungeon which got viewers super involved and sharing clips everywhere.
• TikTok: Creators made short, punchy videos showing off unique game mechanics, funny moments, or quick character guides. They used popular sounds and trends to make the game feel native to the platform, like one creator’s “POV: You just discovered the secret boss in Aethelgard Chronicles” video that hit over 500,000 views.
• YouTube: Here we got in-depth reviews, “let’s play” series, and lore analysis. These longer videos gave creators a chance to dig into the game’s story and complex systems, which really appealed to players who want that detailed breakdown before they commit.

We gave creators one main instruction: show off the “dynamic weather system” and the “player-choice driven narrative,” since those were the game’s big selling points. It was amazing to see the different ways they ran with it. One creator showed how a sudden downpour changed a combat encounter, while another walked through completely different story outcomes based on one early choice. That kind of variety is what kept the campaign from getting stale.

Targeting and Placement: Psychographics in Action

Our targeting wasn’t just about age and location. We went deeper into psychographics to understand what makes these players tick, their motivations, interests, and where they hang out online. We found communities on Twitch and Discord dedicated to fantasy RPGs, open-world games, and story-driven experiences. On TikTok, we went after users who were already interacting with hashtags like #fantasygaming, #rpgs, #newgames, and even specific memes in the genre.

We placed the content where these audiences were already spending their time. For example, some of our best-performing Twitch micro-influencers were smaller channels streaming at odd hours, but their viewers were incredibly engaged. On YouTube, creators who did “hidden gem” reviews were more effective for us than the huge, general gaming channels. We also made sure to run retargeting ads on platforms like Unity Ads, hitting people who had clicked an influencer’s link but hadn’t downloaded yet with testimonials or special in-game bonuses to nudge them over the finish line.

Campaign Performance: Metrics and Analysis

The Aethelgard Chronicles campaign delivered strong results, but we hit some bumps along the way. Here’s how the numbers shook out:

What Worked Well: Micro-Influencer Power & Authentic Content

Betting big on micro-influencers was the single best decision we made. Their connection with tight-knit, niche audiences gave us much better conversion rates. TikTok, especially, was a wildcard that paid off, some of our small creators had videos hit over 1 million views, way beyond their normal reach. The raw, reactive content felt like a recommendation from a friend, not a paid ad, and that made all the difference.

The hybrid pay model was also a huge win. Creators who saw big payouts from their performance bonuses got even more excited about the game, and many of them started making extra, unpaid content just because they were having fun. Getting that kind of organic amplification is what everyone in this business is chasing.

What Didn’t Work as Expected: Macro-Influencer Underperformance

The money we first put into YouTube macro-influencers didn’t perform well, only bringing in a 1.8x ROAS. They got us a ton of eyeballs, but their audiences just didn’t seem to convert. It’s possible their content felt more like a generic sponsored review because their audience is so broad. Plus, the high volume of sponsored content on those big channels likely contributed to some serious audience fatigue.

We also realized our initial creative brief for YouTube was part of the problem. We were too prescriptive, and it choked the natural style out of some of the creators. The content came out feeling a bit generic and just got lost in the noise of a busy feed.

Optimization Steps and Mid-Campaign Adjustments

After seeing the weak numbers from the macro-influencers in the first three weeks, we knew we had to make some changes fast:

1. Shift the Budget: We took $10,000 (20% of the remaining macro budget) and moved it over to our best-performing micro and mid-tier creators on TikTok and Twitch. That move gave our overall ROAS an immediate lift.
2. Fix the Creative Brief: We totally rewrote the brief for our remaining YouTube creators. We scrapped the tight instructions and just told them, “show us how YOU play.” We wanted more personal stories and real reactions.
3. A/B Test the CTAs: We started testing our calls-to-action in the video descriptions. It turns out “Click here to play now!” beat “Learn more about Aethelgard Chronicles” by 15%. People wanted to jump right in.
4. Get in the Comments: Our community managers started jumping into the comment sections on all the influencer posts. They answered questions, handled concerns, and just thanked people for their interest. This built a much better vibe and definitely helped convert people who were on the fence.

These changes were exactly what we needed to push the campaign from its original 2.5x ROAS target all the way to the final 3.2x. It just goes to show you have to watch the data in real time and be ready to make quick decisions in this line of work.

Conclusion

The VIVA! Games campaign for Aethelgard Chronicles is a perfect case study. It showed that if you really understand your audience’s psychographics and invest in authentic micro-influencers, you can get fantastic results in the games market. Pivoting quickly based on performance data is key. Your first plan is just a starting hypothesis you need to test, not a rule set in stone. For future campaigns, building long-term relationships with creators through something like dedicated marketing agencies AI partnerships is a much better approach than just doing one-off deals.