With everything happening in the world today, and more people spending their limited free time on social media or YouTube, it makes sense to go where the kids are, right? GSC Game World is collaborating with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, using S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl to teach everyone about the dangers of mine threats, both in-game and in the real world. And yeah, it seems like it’s working.
In partnership with both the aforementioned State Emergency Service of Ukraine and Rockets Growth R&D, a creative marketing agency based in Ukraine, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: The Hidden Threat launched with a short video, narrated by Skif.
The initiative is the first of its kind in Ukraine, in which the local government is collaborating with a video game development studio to teach the youth. So, is it working?
According to Rocket’s stats, the campaign already achieved over 5.4 million organic impressions and more than 137,000 interactions across social media naturally. Elsewhere, a paid campaign delivered over 13.7 million impressions to 1,3 million people in its first run and 2 million in its second run.
Taras Mokhonko, Strategy Lead at Rockets, said:
The massive popularity of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 gave us an opportunity to embed an important safety message directly into a cultural context relevant for young people. The experiencei s safe and interactive inside the game, but in the real world these objects should never be approached – only reported to the appropriate services. This project clearly demonstrates that strong creative ideas lead to real efficiency, as organic reach helped scale the campaign and significantly reduce media costs.
In the video, which you can check out by following the link above or watching the attached video, Skif explains what to do when encountering objects: do not approach, do not touch, return the way you came, and call emergency services.
The Zone, like real life, does not forgive mistakes.
SES of Ukraine also tasked GSC Game World with showcasing an F-1 Fragmentation Grenade, which is commonly used in real-world conflicts but wasn’t present in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 up to this point. So, GSC created an asset specifically for the video, including a tripwire setup.
So, why go through this much effort to teach everyone about mine threats through a video game? As of this writing, approximately 23% of Ukraine is potentially dangerous due to mines and unexploded ordnance. It could take decades to clear the area.