LOST RECORDS: Welcome to Velvet Cove.

Turning a game launch into a living, breathing brand world.
Most launches rely on hype. But with Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, Don’t Nod had no AAA budget, no paid media, and no space for traditional tactics. The game was releasing in two parts, eight weeks apart. Going quiet between drops wasn’t an option. So instead of chasing attention, we designed an interactive experience that earned devotion.
The story's fictional town, Velvet Cove, became the foundation. We brought it to life as a 90s-inspired digital community inside Discord. There was a welcome centre, a local radio station, weekly events, and even interactive NPCs. It didn’t feel like a campaign: it felt like a place fans could live in.
At the center was MoviePalaceOnline.com, a virtual extension of an in-game landmark. Built inside an Unreal Engine simulation of a vintage PC, the site felt pulled from time: glitchy GIFs, corrupted JPEGs, ZIP folders, dial-up tones. But beneath the nostalgia sat an unfolding mystery.
New missions launched weekly. Fans hacked fake hard drives, decoded corrupt files, and emailed in-universe characters. Replies came from CyberBob, a sarcastic IT agent baked into the lore. Everything felt alive, responsive, and real.
The experience invited participation. Fans created lore, wrote fan fiction, and built emotional connections with fictional characters. They shared theories on Reddit, posted explainers on TikTok, uploaded fan art to Instagram, and roleplayed entire lives on X. We made some of their UGC canon.
No paid ads. No media buy. Just a world compelling enough to spread on its own.
In weeks, we grew from zero to 3,000 Discord members. The ARG attracted 24,000 players. Nearly 400,000 organic messages were exchanged. The campaign reached half a million people, entirely through community momentum.
Ninety percent of players said they would buy Don’t Nod’s next game. Not because we reminded them to, but because they’d never left.