ABCommunication - Release Until Dawn

Dazzle Events in Halloween mood for Until Dawn. Reviews of PlayStation’s game Until Dawn have been raving. Because it’s a brilliant game. And also a bit because Dazzle Events organised the press release. Together with AD Communications, we thrilled journalists. And they liked it too!

A cottage in the woods

The idea for the press release was simple: we let fiction and reality merge. To this end, we welcomed around fifty journalists from Belgium and the Netherlands to a country house in the woods. Indeed, Until Dawn begins with eight holidaymakers in a luxurious resort in the countryside. Idyllic, until the careless travellers fall into the hands of psychopaths with a chainsaw.

Butterfly wings

We don’t make a habit of it, but for once we had to terrorise our guests. It started at the reception. A mysterious gentleman of the house welcomed the press people. They descended a basement staircase after which they enjoyed a deliciously lugubrious lunch.

This was followed by a plenary session explaining the ‘game play’ of Until Dawn. Attendees were explained the ‘butterfly effect’ in this game: a butterfly spreading its wings in the tropics can cause a storm in us. Even the smallest choices a player makes affect the course of the game.

Fight, flee and hide

The journalists faced masked headhunters just like in the game. They could choose to flee, hide or go on the attack. The escapees moved past the bloody kitchen into the garden. A low mist over the pool hid a floating corpse.

Those who wanted to hide were locked in a dark room. With a torch, in a closet of human remains, the contestants had to search for the key to free themselves. The fighters ended up in a torture cellar. The carcass of a bull in a smoky cold room created a slaughterhouse effect.

Bloodthirsty reviewers

The blood and skeletons were fake, the horror atmosphere was real. At the end of each route, participants had the chance to get totally immersed in Until Dawn on the PlayStation. Thanks to a livestream, the game release could be followed worldwide. Thus, Dazzle Events assisted communications company AD Communications with a mix of creativity and organisation. It already earned PlayStation an army of enthusiastic reviewers!

Snippet: Thanks to the collaboration of AD Communications and Dazzle Events, the press release of PlayStation’s Until Dawn was almost as bloodcurdling as the game itself.