Submitted by Cloutboost

Biped: Influencer Campaign for an Indie Game

Cloutboost ran a five-creator YouTube launch campaign for NExT Studios around the Steam release of Biped, and the agency reports 500K total views.

5# of Influencers
7.8%Engagement Rate
500KTotal # of Views
270,000launch weekend views

Case in 60 seconds

NExT Studios needed to introduce a niche cooperative puzzle game to a relevant North American audience and drive purchases at Steam launch, a market where a Chinese indie studio had no established following.

The campaign appears to turn on the fact that a game defined by two players interacting cannot be conveyed by one person talking about it, so the proof of the proposition had to be two creators playing together on camera.

Rather than buying scale, Cloutboost cast five gaming YouTubers for fit with a puzzle co-op title and had each one bring a partner, so the co-op premise was demonstrated in the format of the content itself.

Five selected YouTubers received a detailed briefing on the game features the studio wanted shown, each recruited a gaming buddy to record with, and each published a dedicated gameplay video carrying a referral link in the description, all timed to release on a specific date tied to the Steam launch, while two of the five challenged each other to play together and posted the session on both channels.

Cloutboost reports 500K total views across 5 influencers at a 7.8% engagement rate, with the campaign passing over 270,000 Views during the first weekend of the game release.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

A relevant North American audience for a niche cooperative puzzle game, reached through gaming YouTube channels.
A cooperative game built on two-player interaction is difficult to sell through conventional launch promotion, because the proposition only becomes legible when two people are seen playing it at once.
Cloutboost positions itself on experience marketing Asian games to an American audience, so the agency's role was translation of a Chinese indie studio's title into North American creator channels rather than media buying.
Based on the available evidence, the requirement that each creator bring a gaming buddy suggests the campaign treated an existing friendship on camera as more persuasive for a co-op purchase than a scripted demonstration.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Steam
  • YouTube
  • co-op gameplay video
  • gameplay video

Partners

  • Cloutboost (lead_agency)

Participation mechanic

  • Viewers were encouraged to try the game through referral links placed in the description of each video.

Creator role

  • Beautiful OB — creator
  • Stumpt — creator
  • 5 gaming YouTubers
  • 5 video game influencers

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult type
# of Influencers# of Influencers 5creators_count
Engagement RateEngagement Rate 7.8%engagement_rate
Total # of ViewsTotal # of Views 500Kvideo_views
launch weekend viewsThe campaign hit over 270,000 Views during the first weekend of the game release.video_views

Why Cloutboost's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Casting for genre fit rather than follower scale is presented as the deciding factor, because a puzzle co-op title reaches buyers through channels whose audiences already play that genre rather than through general gaming reach.

  2. 2

    Pairing creators against each other rather than briefing them separately produced content on two channels from one session, which reads as a way of doubling placement while keeping the co-op demonstration authentic.

  3. 3

    Synchronising every video to a single date tied to the Steam release concentrates attention into the launch window, which is consistent with more than half the reported views arriving in the first weekend.

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