Cowboys Never Die

Overview

When Blizzard Entertainment prepared to launch a new season of Stadium, its premier Overwatch 2 competitive game mode, they needed more than just a launch announcement. They wanted a cultural moment. A crossover between esports, traditional sports, and pop culture that could rally both die-hard Overwatch players and casual fans alike.

The opportunity arrived with Luka Dončić. Fresh off his blockbuster trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, Luka wasn’t just a global basketball star, he was also a verified top-500 Overwatch tank player. Blizzard was already working with Luka and tasked Thinkingbox with developing the creative vision for how this partnership would look across mediums.

Creative Vision

The idea was to show the duality of Luka, athlete and gamer, Dallas cornerstone and LA superstar, basketball legend and top-500 tank player. This partnership would amplify Blizzard’s Season 18 launch, which included custom Luka Dončić Stadium builds playable at launch and exclusive rewards tied to his role as a tank player.

Execution

“Cowboys Never Die” became the rallying line, tying Luka’s Texas legacy to Cassidy’s cowboy aesthetic. We developed the creative strategy and created assets that paired Luka with Cassidy, visually merging Luka’s NBA identity with Overwatch’s frontier mythology. Our work spanned in-game creative assets, digital platforms, and out-of-home massives and spectaculars across the globe. Billboards were placed around LA near Crypto.com Arena, Poland for Eurobasket, and Dallas, directly across from American Airlines Center.

Results

The campaign transcended gaming press, making headlines in mainstream sports outlets like ESPN, The Dallas Morning News, and others. Overwatch players leaned into Luka’s authenticity as a top-500 tank main, fueling discussion across Twitch, Reddit, and X. By leaning into context and culture tensions with billboards in Dallas and LA and Luka’s dual identity, the campaign generated incredible earned media and organic buzz. Stadium’s evolution from a new mode to a cultural touchpoint showed how Blizzard could expand gaming narratives into the broader sports world.

Why It Worked

Luka was already a believer, an athlete lending his face to a game he loves, but also a player who grinded his way to the top 500. By creating cohesive visual storytelling that connected his authentic gaming passion across all mediums, we didn’t have to make up a reason to play, we just had to get that reason out in the right way, through the right medium.