Destiny 2 Ghost Skill Wins Silver Lion for Voice Technology Innovation
We are excited to share that Activision’s Destiny 2 Ghost Skill, created by AKQA and powered by PullString, won a Silver Lion Award in the Digital Craft Lions – Innovative Use of Technology category at the 2018 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
The Digital Craft Lions celebrates technological artistry – flawless design, masterful execution and outstanding user experience created for all digital environments. Below is a description of the campaign submission by our partner AKQA San Francisco. The submission teams go through an extensive process just to submit, let alone win, so please join us in congratulating AKQA and Activision for their great work!
To make Destiny 2 more accessible to new players, we brought Destiny’s in-game guide, Ghost, to life inside your home with Amazon Alexa and a physical product. The most immersive gaming companion ever made, the skill uses live player data to enable a wide range of useful interactions with the game, such as custom recommendations based on previous gameplay, the ability to change armor and weapons in real time with simple voice commands, and easily call for help without taking your focus away from the game. All this while answering questions about the D2 universe with the voice of the in-game actor. Bringing Ghost to life in the real world created a richer and more valuable brand experience that seamlessly bridged the video game universe with the real world in a way that had never been done before.
With the launch of Destiny 2, Activision faced a challenge: how do you make this massive, constantly expanding video game universe feel accessible to new fans? The game already had a character who helped you navigate its multiple worlds – Ghost. But more was needed to simplify this intimidating universe.
So we brought Ghost to life inside your home with a free Amazon Alexa skill and physical product – launching through social, influencers, and takeovers on Amazon.com.
Voiced by the in-game actor Nolan North, the Destiny 2 Ghost Skill was designed to bridge the aesthetic of the in-game Ghost with Amazon Alexa’s suite of products, bringing the character of Ghost out of the game and into your living room. With the skill, players are able to have a daily interaction with a video game character (whether they’re currently inside the game or not). As a first-of-its-kind experience, we’re paving the way for other gaming companies to see the potential in voice-enabled smart home devices to offer real utility to players, introducing a new breed of second screen experiences that never take you away from the game itself.
The skill featured dozens of potential queries, each designed to accommodate the different Destiny 2 player types – social gamers, “lone wolf” gamers, and hardcore gamers, as well as gamers starting out for the very first time.
To date, over a million interactions have occurred between players and Ghost, who is capable of providing over a million unique responses. Within the Alexa ecosystem, it’s the #1 Gaming Skill available and has resulted in over 400M in social and PR impressions and a 7x bump in Destiny 2 sales on Amazon.com when announced. Amazon was so impressed that they produced 4 nationally-run TV spots promoting the skill, giving us millions in free media support.
Campaign Description
Destiny 2 is a massive and intimidating open world video game. To make the game more accessible to new players, we brought Destiny’s in-game guide, Ghost, to life inside your home with Amazon Alexa and a physical product. The most immersive gaming companion ever made, the skill uses live player data to enable a wide range of useful interactions with the game, such as custom recommendations based on previous gameplay, the ability to change armor and weapons in real time with simple voice commands, and easily call for help without taking your focus away from the game. All this while answering questions about the D2 universe with the voice of the in-game actor, seamlessly bridging the video game universe with the real world. The Destiny 2 Ghost Skill also serves as the first major Alexa skill that connects the billion-dollar console gaming industry with the growing smart home marketplace.
The Destiny 2 Ghost Skill was announced through social, influencers, a website, educational videos, and takeovers and high-impact placements on Amazon.com. Impressed by the innovation of the skill, Amazon produced four nationally-run TV spots promoting our campaign, giving us millions in free media support and bringing new players into the Destiny 2 universe.
To date, over a million interactions have occurred between players and Ghost, who is capable of providing over a million possible unique responses. Within the Alexa ecosystem, it’s the #1 Gaming Skill available and, when announced, it resulted in over 400M in social and PR impressions and a 7x bump in Destiny 2 sales on Amazon.com.
AKQA worked with Activision to design, prototype and publish the Destiny 2 Ghost Skill using PullString voice technology software, which enabled them to build an innovative new voice experience integrated seamlessly into the gameplay for Destiny 2.
Our team at PullString has partnered with leading entertainment, media and gaming brands to power some of the most successful interactive voice experiences at scale. To learn how we help creatives and developers collaboratively build Alexa skills, contact us to schedule a demo.