Mobile video game creators are certainly waking up to the importance of star power and big budget advertising when it comes to marketing a game. And Machine Zone, the company behind the world-conquering Game of War: Fire Age has spent more than $40 million (£26 million), on some of the most eye-catching ads ever made for a video game. Their latest ad, which you can watch below, features none other than Mariah Carey, and as you can probably guess, her megahit song “Hero” is heard during the commercial.
Previous Game of War ads featured sexy model Kate Upton, who became something of a celebrity due to her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Unlike Upton however, Mariah Carey only appears for a few seconds of the latest Game of War ad. This makes sense considering that she is a bigger celebrity than Upton, and likely demands much higher fees for her screen time. But still, this ad is definitely as eye-catching as those starring Upton, and one could argue that Carey is still a looker even in her 40’s.
During the ad, which according to website TMZ was directed by Terminator: Genisys’ director, viewers can see a beleaguered soldier hit a “help” button on his mobile phone screen, which calls friendly armies to the battlefield. Because while Game of War is a free to play strategy game, players can purchase in-game goodies that grant them all sorts of advantages, such as “skipping wait timers” and paying for extra troops for instance. Machine Zone has been criticized for this, and the fact that the game is not actually that good according to some. But still, it is clear that the flashy advertising is working its magic, as the game is reportedly making more than 1 million US dollars every day.
And it is clear that resorting to celebrities like Carey and beauties like Kate Upton definitely helps games like Game of War stand out and succeed in the competitive mobile video game arena. Game of War’s main rival Clash of Clans also produced a spectacular ad starring Liam Neeson, and that game is also raking in millions. And even if these games’ quality has been called into question, one can’t deny that Game of War is an Internet phenomenon and that its dedicated base of fans is certainly having a blast playing it.