Last week, the official Twitter account for The Northman debuted the trailer for Vengeance, an RPG created entirely in the world-dominating battle royale Fortnite as a bizarre promotion for the Viking epic. Well, responsibility for the film-inspired game within a game lies with Focus Features who partnered with the global gaming firm Loaded to build and promote the game as a forward-thinking, modern way to engage with audiences ahead of the film's release in theaters on April 22. In an impressive move for a simple promotion, the game promises 20+ hours of main and side content all playable for free in Fortnite with the code 6089-1011-3272.
Given the nature of the original trailer and the fact that it's just meant to help market the film to a wider audience, it'd be easy to assume this would've been a simple, shorter gameplay experience to get the word out. At over 20 hours to complete though, the game lands in the same realm as titles like 2016's Doom reboot, Undertale, and the recently released Kirby and the Forgotten Land in terms of runtime. Per the description, much of that time will be spent completing quests to get vengeance for your father's murder which is certain to be far longer than Amleth's on-screen journey.
To help spread the word, Focus also partnered with popular content creators to showcase Vengeance on YouTube and Twitch. With this, it marks the first time the production company is going to the metaverse to promote their films. Apparently, this gaming-based promotion for The Northman has been in the works for some time. It was Loaded that approached Focus back in December 2021 with the idea of spreading the word of Eggers' film through the use of an RPG built inside the biggest IP of all video games. Loaded also brought the Fortnite custom map development group Team Unite on board to help with the creation of the game. They previously helped build the beach from M. Night Shyamalan's Old in-game as an Escape Map.
Loaded is known for helping companies jump into the gaming sphere and for supporting burgeoning talent and development within the industry. A wide array of massive streamers are under their umbrella including Shroud, DrLupo, CouRage, Myth, Summit1G, QuarterJade, AnneMunition, Sydeon, Doublelift, CohhCarnage, all of whom help with promotion for brands that partner with Loaded. The company is responsible for pairing streamers with brands and, in the past, they've helped companies like Red Bull, Activision, Gillette, Samsung, Amazon, Verizon, and more expand their footprint in the gaming space.
The Northman is Focus Features' latest massive film from acclaimed director Robert Eggers and features a star-studded cast including Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke, and Björk. The film follows Amleth, a young Viking prince who seeks vengeance against his uncle Fjölnir after he murders his father and kidnaps his mother. Eggers had help with the script from Icelandic poet Sjón.
In a statement, Loaded's VP of Creative Ashley Hsieh praised Focus for embracing a new form of marketing rather than relying on conventional means:
"We love how forward-thinking Focus has been as a partner. For a lot of brands, the future is scary enough that they continue to do what has worked in the past. When we get an opportunity to partner with a group who is willing to really think about things from a new perspective, it allows us to approach the market from a new direction. These are the types of engagements that change the paradigm, and we’re so proud to have been able to design this experience on behalf of the great team over at Focus."
"Witness the rise of The Northman" in theaters on April 22. Until then, you can try out its thematically inspired Fortnite counterpart right now if you use the code 6089-1011-3272 in the Creative Hub. Make sure to set aside a significant amount of time to get through it all!