Project Overview:

Blizzard Entertainment made esports history with Heroes of the Dorm, the first collegiate esports tournament and film ever broadcast nationally on ESPN2. Featuring over 6,200 players from 462 colleges competing for full-ride scholarships, the event marked a seismic moment for the legitimacy of esports in mainstream media.

We partnered with Blizzard to build a full-funnel content ecosystem around this milestone. At the center was the feature-length branded documentary, A New Hero: The Rise of College Esports—a Webby Award–winning film that chronicled the players’ personal journeys and helped cement Blizzard’s position as a cultural and category pioneer.

Surrounding the film was a suite of modular content—player vignettes, BTS stories, platform-native cuts, and live tournament clips—engineered to drive reach and engagement across ESPN, YouTube, and social. Together, these assets humanized the players, elevated the stakes, and fueled audience interest before, during, and after the championship event.

Results & Reach:

• First-ever collegiate esports event televised on ESPN2

• Webby Award winner for Best Branded Entertainment Documentary

• Campaign assets scaled across broadcast, YouTube, and organic social

• YouTube comments overwhelmingly positive; reinforcing emotional impact and cultural relevance

• Positioned Blizzard as the architect of collegiate esports in a fast-emerging category

As ESPN put it:
“Heroes of the Dorm continues to be the high-water mark for collegiate esports—a chance for students to win scholarships, play on a national stage, and rewrite what college competition means.”

Category: Leader Positioning · Brand Storytelling · Content Ecosystem Strategy

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WrSY6ZGZMs