PUBG MOBILE at MAAYA Berlin World Cup Fan Festival
Substance Global built a PUBG MOBILE fan activation inside a Berlin World Cup festival, reaching 3,446 attendees at MAAYA Berlin and 812,000+ creator video views.
Case in 60 seconds
PUBG MOBILE needed awareness during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a moment owned by football rather than gaming, so the brand had to earn attention among fans who had gathered in Berlin for a fixture and not for a mobile title.
The activation appears to turn on the observation that World Cup fan festivals hold crowds in one place for hours between screenings, which leaves open time that a competitive mobile game can fill without competing with the football itself.
Rather than advertising against the tournament, Substance Global treated PUBG MOBILE as a live fan experience embedded inside one of Berlin's largest fan festivals, connecting football culture with the game's competitive spirit through participation.
At MAAYA Berlin on 20 June, live gameplay stations, a PUBG character cosplayer, a branded photo booth and exclusive merchandise sat within a fully branded stand, with large-format branding on the venue's giant screen, while creators @Maxmalle, @dieserkingphil and @n1sev7n documented the day in social content.
Substance Global reports 3,446 attendees at MAAYA Berlin, 812,000+ creator video views and 16,700 creator engagements, alongside 90+ branded fan photos captured and shared and 46 exclusive PUBG MOBILE prizes distributed.
Strategy Breakdown
The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.
Creative & Execution System
Assets & channels
- branded environment
- creator social content
- fan photos
- gameplay stations
- large-format screen branding
- large-format venue branding
- merchandise
- photo booth photos
- social content
Partners
- Substance Global (lead_agency)
Participation mechanic
- Visitors played PUBG MOBILE at live gameplay stations, posed with a PUBG character cosplayer and in a branded photo booth, and earned exclusive merchandise through participation across the day.
Creator role
- @dieserkingphil — creator
- @Maxmalle — creator
- @n1sev7n — creator
- creators
Results & Evidence
| Metric | Value | Result type |
|---|---|---|
| attendees | 3,446 attendees at MAAYA Berlin | performance |
| branded fan photos | 90+ branded fan photos captured and shared | performance |
| creator engagements | 16,700 creator engagements | engagements |
| creator video views | 812,000+ creator video views | video_views |
| merchandise items distributed | 16 Winner Winner Chicken Dinner cushions | performance |
| merchandise items distributed | 30 gold football pendants | performance |
| merchandise items given away | 16 Winner Winner Chicken Dinner cushions | performance |
| merchandise items given away | 30 gold football pendants | performance |
| prizes distributed | 46 exclusive PUBG MOBILE prizes distributed | performance |
Why Substance's strategy worked
- 1
Placing a brand inside an existing fan destination rather than building a standalone event borrows an assembled audience, which is what allows a mobile game to record 3,446 attendees against a single football fixture.
- 2
Scarce physical rewards do double duty, because 46 exclusive PUBG MOBILE prizes distributed across a day of footfall function as both a reason to take part and a photographed object that carries the brand into social feeds.
- 3
Creator coverage timed before and after an event extends a one-day activation across the tournament window, which is how 812,000+ creator video views exceed the 3,446 people who attended in person by more than two orders of magnitude.
- 4
Designing each element for capture, from cosplay to photo booth to branded stand, converts attendance into content, and the 90+ branded fan photos give a countable trace of that conversion rather than an estimate of reach.