Positioning ACMI as the global home of video games

ACMI’s Game Worlds was the museum’s most ambitious exhibition to date — a landmark showcase exploring 50 years of play, from SimCity and Silksong to LAN parties, D&D and the evolution of gaming culture. The brief was clear: drive mass awareness, earn cut-through across gaming and entertainment media, and establish ACMI’s reputation as a global destination for video games.

We recognised that the inclusion of Hollow Knight: Silksong — the most anticipated indie game in the world — could become the linchpin for a global PR moment. But when Nintendo unexpectedly announced that Silksong would launch on its new Switch 2 console ahead of our campaign, our planned strategy risked losing impact. Rather than play catch-up, we advised ACMI to get ahead of the global hype cycle.

Superstate partnered with ACMI’s marketing and curatorial teams to pivot quickly. We developed a pre-launch tease campaign, dropping Silksong Easter eggs into ACMI’s trailers to ignite fan speculation. We seeded the story to a select group of outlets, including IGN — the world’s biggest gaming site — positioning ACMI as the first confirmed place to play the game. The story exploded, generating hundreds of international headlines and placing ACMI at the centre of global gaming conversation.

We then activated a two-tier influencer strategy, hosting more than 100 content creators at special opening and VIP events and driving huge social buzz around opening week.

At the heart of our Game Worlds engagement was a creator campaign focused on connecting with Australia’s gaming community, particularly in Melbourne, and inviting them to experience ACMI’s Game Worlds. We invited a select group of Australia’s most recognisable creators to create content at the exhibition ahead of opening and throughout the holiday period. We also hosted an exclusive launch event, Player Night, for more than 100 creators alongside ACMI VIPs and subscribers.

Across these key moments, the campaign generated more than 150 pieces of creator content, reaching millions of people.