"Even within the spectrum of live sports events, the Super Bowl stands apart, almost as a national holiday," EA President Frank Gibeau said in a press release. "The Super Bowl is a bull's-eye in terms of cross-over to our core demographic and the reach is outstanding."
The commercial caps a lengthy multi-channel marketing campaign that included a Facebook app, a special-edition release of Dante Alighieri's epic poem "Inferno," an animated DVD, a six-issue comic book series, hidden online advertising, an action figure, and even a mock protest of the game at E3.
- EA
"While digital outreach to Facebook, Twitter, and online bloggers is a core part of our marketing strategy, we felt that advertising during the Super Bowl is an excellent way to introduce this new IP to a massive cross-section of people who are likely already familiar with the dark and twisted 'Divine Comedy,'" Gibeau said.
"Hell Awaits" will premier in the fourth quarter of Sunday's big game on CBS, and will hit the shelves in the U.S. on Tuesday, February 9.
Sharkey says: The mock protest came back to bite EA and cast the game in a negative light for many a gamer (particularly God of War loyalists). What's your take? Has EA piqued your interest, or have the company's aggressive efforts turned you off?
