Support - The Invaders

The Invaders, in collaboration with AFK, partnered with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to launch a gaming campaign aimed at bringing mental health into the conversation among gamers. Our goal was to break the stigma surrounding mental health and position 988 as a trusted resource within the gaming community.

We did so by showing gamers that asking for support isn’t just something you should do in-game, but in real life, too. On platforms like Twitch, IGN, and Reddit, we connected with young Americans by putting them face to face with gamers looking directly at them, asking for support in the style of in-game chat. Through these compelling and recognizable banners, we made gamers pause and reflect.

Watch the case video:

To emphasize the importance of IRL support even further, 988 sponsored two streams of Alok Kanojia during Mental Health Awareness Month. Besides being a licensed therapist, Alok is also an avid streamer and is better known as Dr. K or the Healthy Gamer. In these streams, Dr. K had an open and honest discussion about mental health with two of America’s top streamers: Ludwig and Mizkif.

Together, they highlighted the importance of seeking support for mental health issues and explained how 988 provides this crucial service. Both streams peaked at around 18,000 concurrent viewers, with chats filled with heartfelt reactions, successfully embedding 988 within the gaming community.

Results:

The focus on compelling banners proved to be successful. By showcasing diverse ethnicities, we created recognizable and impactful ads. This led to an impressive 73.75% video completion rate for the ad campaign.

The interview with Mizkif on May 27th shattered records, outperforming the next best-performing stream by an astonishing 114%! This success makes it Dr. K’s top stream ever in terms of VOD views, unique viewers, and live viewers.

Notably, in both streams, the sponsored segment resulted in an increase in viewership and was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback. During the first interview between Dr. K and Ludwig, we also observed a significant spike in tracking link clicks, with 18% of concurrent viewers checking out the 988 website. Similarly, the Mizkif stream demonstrated comparable engagement.

The VODs were uploaded immediately after the livestream interviews with Ludwig and Mizkif concluded, and they continue to generate new views and engagement to this day. Community sentiment on YouTube has been overwhelmingly positive, with viewers praising both the interviews and the sponsorship segments.

About 988:

The 988 Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in the United States.