• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 2, 2007

There's a new game in town. Turns out that 2K's BioShock, released in late August, sold an impressive 490,000 copies in its debut.

Okay, so it's no "Halo 3," which GameSpot, an industry magazine, says may generate more bucks in a single 24-hour period than any other American entertainment product. Nor is it Madden NFL '08, which was the bestseller in August, with 1.5 million copies sold. (In August, sales of video game software rose 22.5 %, to $488 million, reports The NPD Group.)

But BioShock did come in a solid third place. What's more, it's generating plenty of sequel buzz among the gaming community and earned a coveted "Editor's Choice" from GameSpot.

Bunny Rivera, vice president of agency RDA International, says its client did it by creating a distinct niche in the mostly male, 18-to-35 gamer audience. While it's easy to treat all gamers the same, Rivera says the client was keenly aware that this game would appeal only to a certain segment.

"There are very specific categories," she says, "and while there are plenty of first-person shooters, we needed a way to explain that BioShock is a thinking-man's shooter. The ads had to convey a very deep storyline, and the genetically enhanced superpowers in this underwater utopia that has gone bad," she says. "We came up with the tagline, 'A genetically engineered first-person shooter.'" (RDA also helped launch "Mortal Kombat" 15 years ago.)

In addition to heavy-stock inserts in gaming magazines, 2K is also running BioShock ads in mainstream publications, such as Wired. Network and cable ads run on YES as well as Spike, FX, MTV and SciFi.

Because the challenge was to create ads that show graphics and action as compelling as the game itself, the agency also took the unusual step of creating a 60-second TV spot.

Ads play up what's different about the game, including a certain amount of sophistication: The city of Rapture is almost entirely Art Deco; the soundtrack to the jarring spot is "Beyond the Sea," Bobby Darin's serene classic. "Men this age do watch TV," insists Rivera.

But the most important component of the launch's success, she says, is the online community 2K created called "The Cult of Rapture." "We built this community where people can demo the game, see sketches, download wallpaper and upload their own artwork. This is such a passionate consumer base, you can't succeed without them," she says. "That's the way this group responds--we invited the fan community to be part of our world."