Horror Film 'Talk to Me' Heads to Fortnite in World-First Immersive Crossover

Independent UK studio Altitude has launched a branded Fortnite Creative integration for this Summer’s highly anticipated horror, Talk to Me, ahead of the movie’s cinema release from 28 July.  Now live to play, the Talk To Me game in ‘Deadpines: Zombie Survival', marks the first time a horror movie has been featured globally on the highly popular gaming platform.

The Talk To Me takeover puts the player into the heart of the movie’s story centring around a mysterious embalmed hand that allows the holder to commune with the dead – with terrifying consequences. The best reviewed horror of 2023 and touted as, “One of the scariest movies of the decade,” Talk To Me follows a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand. They soon become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.

Mimicking the themes of the movie, Fortnite players battle through torrential rain and lightning to enter a haunted house and experience a terrifying fusion of supernatural horror and fight to survive combat. Replicating Talk To Me's eerie atmosphere, the game features notable scenes from the movie, including the Séance Room and Hospital, both filled to the brim with the soul-sucking undead. The ultimate challenge awaits outside the haunted mansion where players embark on an epic boss fight and the few victorious survivors are rewarded with coveted loot and XP.

The Talk To Me integration fits seamlessly into highly popular Deadpines: Zombie Survival game where the objective is to eliminate hordes of zombies, achieve high scores and complete speed-runs and missions, and gradually uncover the spooky story behind the town of Deadpines. The game integration, in-game advertising and marketing campaign were devised by Havas Entertainment. The integration was brokered in collaboration with gaming marketing specialists, Livewire Group. The TALK TO ME integration was developed and built by metaverse game developer Gamefam, which created, owns and operates the Deadpines game which first launched in October 2022.

The Deadpines UGC Fortnite game has reached more than 17 million gamers worldwide and regularly trends in the Fortnite Discovery tab for most engaging games. Available to play for free on Fortnite via most platforms and devices, including consoles, PCs, mobile and tablets, the TALK TO ME campaign is expected to reach more than one million people globally for the duration of the integration’s availability until 13 August.

Talk To Me directors Michael and Danny Philippou (aka YouTube creators, RackaRacka) have been involved in the creative development of the immersive integration as both filmmakers and Fortnite fans, to ensure authenticity and a thrilling gaming experience. Also supporting the launch of the Talk To Me game, coveted gaming influencers including Venofn (95k stream hours watched), Archie (65k stream hours watched) and Koji (18k stream hours watched) will host live streams of themselves playing the game and interacting with their followers to encourage them to play.

In-game billboards will be served to seamlessly place the Talk To Me brand into the broader gaming world to mirror the OOH experience in-game, as well as reward videos to push the trailer assets within the games. This will be accompanied by a traditional advertising campaign in the UK and Ireland to drive awareness of the Deadpines integration and movie, including BVOD, Social and TV spots during content discovery moments, such as relevant moments like horror content. Google Search will be deployed to ensure full funnel exposure.

Lia Devlin, managing director, Altitude Distribution, said: “Danny and Michael Philippou have made an incredible horror in Talk To Me, and we know that horror fans are going to be floored by it. To get audiences excited for our release, we set out to create an immersive, world-first experience that allows people to encounter the movie’s terrifying concept for themselves, in an environment we know they're spending their time. The Talk To Me game on Fortnite Creative promises horror fans heart-thumping scares and mess-with-your-mind moments with unexpected interactions and terrifying brushes with the dead – an experience that all horror fans live for, and the perfect path for audiences to discover the movie and then see it on the big screen.”

A survey from TGI Research undertaken during the planning process revealed 45 percent of 18-29 year old horror fans have a strong gaming hobby and interest as well as 36 percent of 30-40 year old horror fans.

Robyn Flowers, client partner, Havas Entertainment, said: “The horror film category is notoriously tricky to gain cut-through, that’s why it’s critical to disrupt and entertain. Our ambitious integration with Fortnite Creative puts Altitude on the hype train in the lead up to release to meet horror fans where they reside. Working with streamers enables Altitude to naturally show the film and game integration and tap into steamers’ audiences in an authentic and engaging way driving awareness and consideration of the film.”

Gareth Leeding, chief innovation officer, Livewire Group, said: “Bringing the ‘Talk To Me’ film into the Deadpines world inside Fortnite Creative is a hugely powerful way of extending the experience of the film into the gaming world while also reaching a highly engaged audience. The future of entertainment IP is seamless interaction across many different media touchpoints, this is a pure articulation of that vision.”

Ricardo Briceno, chief business officer at Gamefam, said: “There is no more authentic match for bloodthirsty zombies in Deadpines than an activation with the severed hand from ‘Talk to Me,’ and that’s why we’re so confident it’ll bring an awesome of mix of joy and jumpscares to Fortnite players. Simply put, the opportunity for movies and other media to extend beyond the big screen and into culture, including the metaverse, has never been greater, and the evolution of Fortnite Creative has opened doors to push the boundaries on this deeply tailored integration.”