It is probably happening to you right now. You are doomscrolling as usual and, if the algorithm deems you worthy, you are served a gaming reel. Right now, it is probably a young James Bond casually flirting with a new Bond girl in prime fancam material. Or a hilarious match of hide-and-seek, where you need to paint mannequin-like avatars to avoid being hunted by another designated player.
Both reels make you want to research the game further, or to go over to the nearest gaming store to pick up your copy. This is not just gaming guerilla marketing, but a careful loop designed to help content creators find, clip and put up content that would draw you in. It is powerful, and it works.
The first example is from 007 First Light, the new James Bond game while the second is the viral sensation Mecca Chameleon. Both use two different, but similar forms of social media marketing that work for that game, but ensure two slightly different outcomes. They probably do not have a buzz name right now, but one is meant to increase engagement, while the other is meant to generate FOMO, a fear of missing out, to get you interested enough to be a part of the game.
Clippable curiosity
For AAA titles that already have the pedigree of being in established IPs, they do not need that marketing push to generate interest. With fans already clamouring to get a piece of it, their goal is to whip up that froth into a frenzy. Once the game is seeded to content creators, then starts a hunt to find the most clippable parts of its cutscenes, interesting hidden finds, quick tips, fun Easter eggs and more.
For 007 First Light,the beautiful Theresa Lorca and Cressida Bright drive up the ‘thirst’ metre through the roof. Yes, the game is excellent, but if you were ever hovering over that decision to buy, seeing reels of this will throw you over that ledge.
From 007 First Light
For the latest Forza Horizon 6, just being set in Japan, triggered the algorithm. With a taking pictures. That, however was not why the game went absolutely viral — it was the appearance of Bowie Knife 99, and AI driveatar, which is a portmanteau of driver avatar, who players mistook for a boisterous human player.
It turned out to be the equivalent Vanellope, the glitch, from Wreck It Ralph. It was lightning in a bottle as Bowie Knife 99 invaded players streams, and was an internet sensation as the world realised that it was a rogue AI that was absolutely destroying them.
This is an example of large AAA games keeping the interest not only in the game but outside as well, going beyond just tips and tricks, and working with content creators to create some organic, great content.
Gaming effect
When you think of games going viral, the story of Innersloth and Among Us is an inspiring one. Launched in 2018 to a low playercount, the three-person team almost abandoned the game. In 2019, a Brazilian streamer Godenot streamed it first, followed by Kevin Choi in Korea; it was then picked up by Twitch streamers xQc and Sodapoppin who brought it to the West.
Becoming popular during the pandemic, Among Uswas a simple game of whodunit where one player is a saboteur and killer while the other players, as fellow crewmates, have to find out who did it. The game has also been credited for coining the term ‘sus’ for suspicious.
Wordle followed suit with a similar level of virality, starting off as a small game Josh Wardle made for his partner Payal Shah. The game spread through word of mouth and then through Twitter, and was later acquired by The New York Times.
After that, there have been multiple games that have tried and sometimes succeeded, but often failed to achieve this level of popularity. The latest to find some success seems to be Mecca Chameleon, which sees creators using their painting skills to camouflage themselves to see if their friends discover them. That just makes you want to be a part of the fun.
The game is changing, and game designers and engineers now have to gauge how they can make the correct scene, characters, art and sound. This also extends to hardware, as Valve’s latest Steam Controllerwent viral for its scream. It is that creativity which fights to be up top in your reels, your memory and your conversations.
Published – June 20, 2026 12:05 pm IST
