THE PLANET CRAFTER

Overview

  • Goal: Promote the full release of The Planet Crafter after its successful Early Access phase.

  • Release Date: April 2024 (DLC: Oct 10th 2024)

  • Platform: PC (Steam)

  • Business Model: Premium

  • Key Territories: English, German, and French-speaking markets

ABOUT THE GAME

The Planet Crafter is a survival and terraforming space simulation game designed for both solo and multiplayer experiences, supporting up to 10 players. Players are tasked with transforming an inhospitable planet into a habitable environment for humanity. To do so, they must gather resources, construct bases, and engineer environmental changes to generate oxygen, heat, and atmospheric pressure. The game offers exploration of procedurally generated crashed ships and ruins, allowing players to uncover hidden secrets. Through geoengineering and DNA sequencing, they can introduce new life forms, gradually shifting the planet from barren to thriving. The game caters to different playstyles with various difficulty modes, including a creative mode for unrestricted gameplay.

CAMPAIGN APPROACH

Given that The Planet Crafter had already seen success in Early Access, our approach for the full release centered on highlighting the new multiplayer feature and reinforcing the game’s survival and terraforming mechanics.

Paid Campaign

We implemented a multi-platform strategy combining:

  • Squad-based multiplayer streams showcasing the new co-op feature

  • Solo content on YouTube covering Version 1.0's new features and educational content

  • TikTok videos supported by a Spark Ads campaign

Execution:

  • 27 content creators participated in the campaign (across NA, UK, DE and FR)

Organic Campaign

We selected 300 English, French, and German-speaking creators, prioritizing those who had previously played games like Astroneer, No Man’s Sky, Subnautica, ARK, Raft, Rust, Sons of the Forest, Valheim, Stranded Deep, The Front, Scum, and Grounded.

Outreach:

  • Total creators contacted: 340

  • Game keys distributed: 93 (27% of contacted creators)

RESULTS

Paid Campaign Performance

YouTube

  • 1.5M+ views (231% of estimated reach)

  • 6+ additional organic pieces of content created by sponsored creators

  • Notable performances:

    • WorstPremadeEver

    • Beam

    • Neebs Gaming

    • Z1 Gaming

    • Dan Field

Twitch

  • 303% of estimated ACCV reached

  • 18M minutes watched

  • 56 stream pieces of organic content generated

  • 2-hour average stream overtime over required deliverables

TikTok

  • 497% of estimated views

  • +2.4M views

  • Highly successful Spark Ads campaign

Organic General Results

  • 28 creators published content organically

  • YouTube: 384,966 views

  • Twitch: 7,938 CCV | 1,674,060 minutes watched

  • EMV: €72,649

DLC CAMPAIGN - PLANET HUMBLE

Following the success of the initial campaign, Miju Games partnered with us again for the release of their DLC, Planet Humble, on October 10th. This campaign reactivated some of the most successful creators from the original launch.

About the DLC

Planet Humble introduces a new world for players to terraform, featuring diverse biomes, expanded base-building options, and additional lore elements exploring space colonization and megacorporations. The DLC supports both solo and multiplayer gameplay, requiring only one copy to enable co-op experiences.

Paid Campaign Performance

YouTube

Twitch

  • 324% of estimated ACCV reached

  • 7M minutes watched

  • 80-minute average overtime on streams

TikTok

  • 474.5% of estimated views

  • +450k views

Organic Campaign Performance

  • 338 creators contacted

  • Response rate: 25.4% (86 responses)

  • YouTube: 689,225 views

  • Twitch: 8,336 CCV | 2,268,420 minutes watched

  • EMV: €111,862

Creator Feedback

Several creators expressed enthusiasm about the DLC:

  • “I’d absolutely love to check out the DLC! My audience has been requesting more Planet Crafter content.” - Spanj

  • “A whole new world? That sounds exciting! I’d be glad to cover the new DLC.” - Wanderbots

  • “I absolutely love Planet Crafter, I'm so excited to hear about this DLC!” - JubileeWhispers

CONCLUSIONS

Paid Campaign

The combination of squad-based multiplayer streams, dedicated YouTube content, and TikTok promotions exceeded expectations. The launch campaign significantly outperformed estimates across all platforms, particularly on YouTube (231% of estimated reach) and Twitch (303% of estimated ACCV). The Spark Ads strategy on TikTok was especially effective in generating engagement.

Organic Campaign

Both the initial launch and the DLC campaigns were highly successful, with strong response rates and ongoing interest from content creators. The total Earned Media Value (EMV) reached €111,862 for the DLC campaign, demonstrating sustained interest in the game post-launch.

Learnings & Takeaways

  • Multiplayer content was key: Squad-based streams were the most engaging. 

  • Long-tail engagement: Smaller creators produced multiple pieces of content, extending campaign longevity. 

  • Paid & organic synergy: Paid content encouraged additional organic videos from recruited creators. 

  • DLC engagement: The reactivation of top-performing creators helped maintain momentum post-launch. 

Overall, The Planet Crafter and its DLC launch campaigns were major successes, generating significant visibility and engagement across our entire galaxy, and perhaps even beyond.