Wicked Saints Studios does not view creators as a marketing channel layered on top of a finished product; it views them as part of the product itself.

That distinction sits at the core of how the female- and Black-led studio has built its mobile game, “World Reborn,” and how it designed #TogetherWeGame, a holiday-season activation developed in partnership with Discord and guided by WNBA champion Aerial Powers. Rather than launching a one-off influencer campaign around a game, Wicked Saints embedded a creator directly into gameplay, using Powers’ voice, story, and lived experience to guide players toward a specific real-world behavior: intergenerational connection through play.

The approach reflects Wicked Saints’ broader thesis that games can be designed not just for engagement, but for activation. Founded in 2020, the studio was created to address a problem its co-founder and CEO, Jessica Murrey, encountered repeatedly across journalism, public-service media, and global peacebuilding: social-impact initiatives are effective at raising awareness, but far less reliable at helping people believe they can take action.

“People can care deeply about issues, but very few believe they can actually move the needle,” Jessica says.

That insight became the foundation of “World Reborn.” The game is an interactive, branching narrative set across fractured realities, where players make choices to prevent an impending collapse. Progress is not purchased. Instead, the game’s core currency, Energy, is earned only through real-world actions, including reflection and journaling, relationship-building, and community engagement.

“The number-one indicator of whether someone will take action is self-efficacy,” Jessica says. “Games are one of the few places where young people consistently build that belief.”

From the outset, Wicked Saints treated “World Reborn” less as a content product and more as an activation engine. The central question was not how long players would stay in the game, but whether the game could reliably push them out of it and whether creators, when embedded directly in that system, could make real-world action feel achievable rather than aspirational.

Why Creators Had to Be Inside the Game

Wicked Saints did not initially set out to make creators central to “World Reborn’s” design. That decision emerged through early testing, when the studio discovered that behavior change, even when grounded in research, did not reliably translate into positive player experiences on its own.

In early versions of the game, players were prompted to complete real-world actions, such as reflection or acts of kindness, without a human guide. While the underlying science suggested those activities should feel rewarding, player feedback told a different story.

“We had players write back saying they felt anxious or intimidated,” Jessica says. “We realized we had all the science, but no face.”

That insight led Wicked Saints to re-architect how real-world quests functioned inside “World Reborn.” Each module would now be anchored by a real person, often a creator or public figure, whose story, voice, and perspective guided players through each step of the experience.

When the studio retested the format, the response shifted sharply. In pilot surveys, 97% of players said the real-world quests made them feel good – an outcome Wicked Saints now treats as a core success signal.

In this model, Jessica notes that creators are not promotional talent. They act as narrative scaffolding, lowering the emotional and psychological friction that can prevent players from taking action. Their role is to normalize the experience, provide context, and model curiosity rather than performance.

To preserve creators’ appeal while keeping execution manageable, Wicked Saints designed a low-lift collaboration process. Creators participate in a recorded interview, which is then translated by writers and behavioral scientists into in-game dialogue and branching prompts. The creator reviews the material, provides likeness assets, and promotes the experience once live.

“All they really have to do is bring their story,” Jessica says. “We take care of the rest.”

That structure laid the foundation for #TogetherWeGame, where Aerial Powers’ personal history with family gaming did not just align with the product. It became part of how the product worked.

Designing #TogetherWeGame as a Creator-Embedded Campaign

Launched in mid-December and running through January 31, 2026, the activation coincided with Discord’s rollout of its Family Center tools and a predictable seasonal behavior: Gen Z players returning home for the holidays.

Instead of framing the holidays as a moment of generational friction, Wicked Saints reframed them as a design opportunity. If gaming is Gen Z’s primary leisure activity, the studio reasoned, it could also become a shared language across age groups.

Powers emerged as a natural guide for that experience. An avid gamer who has played with her parents and uncle since childhood, she uses remote gaming to stay connected with family while playing professionally overseas. Her story provided both credibility and emotional grounding.

Within World Reborn, #TogetherWeGame unfolds as a three-step real-world quest:

• Reflect: Players learn about the science of intergenerational play and recall moments when games helped them connect with others.
  
• Get Ready: Players choose an older family member, decide how to play (remotely or in person), and plan the session.
  
• Do It: Players game with their chosen family, then reflect on what they learned and appreciated.

Each step earns Energy, allowing players to progress through the story. Completing the full quest unlocks in-game rewards, including Powers as an ally character, and (while supplies last) a one-month Discord Nitro subscription.

The campaign never lives outside the game. Powers’ guidance appears inside the narrative, contextualized within the story world, rather than as a separate promotional asset.

Platform Strategy Built to Push Players Out

Most games are designed to maximize time on platform, while “World Reborn” is designed to do the opposite, according to Jessica.

Wicked Saints has integrated social sharing directly into gameplay, with TikTok currently live and additional platforms planned. Players can earn bonus Energy for sharing reflections, screenshots, or videos of their real-world quests. Captions are pre-populated with relevant hashtags and mentions, including #TogetherWeGame, to enable participation with minimal friction.

Creators themselves can seed this loop. Powers recorded stitch-friendly prompts that players can easily respond to, lowering the barrier to participation and reinforcing the campaign narrative across platforms.

“Our game is built to activate people,” Jessica says. “That includes activating them socially.”

For Wicked Saints, success is measured less by impressions and more by progression signals: how many players select a quest, how many complete all steps, and how many share proof of action within Discord and social platforms. By those measures, #TogetherWeGame has emerged as the top-performing module in “World Reborn” right now, Jessica reports.

Positioning Wicked Saints in the Creator Economy

Wicked Saints describes itself as a “real-world activation platform with the experience of a story game.” That positioning places it adjacent to influencer marketing, brand partnerships, and charity-driven creator campaigns, but with a structural difference.

For brands, the studio builds custom real-world quests aligned with specific initiatives. Brands fund the module; creators are paid separately to serve as the face and voice of the experience. For creators, the value lies in depth, rather than scale, enabling them to engage audiences in action without managing execution details themselves.

While follower count matters when awareness is a goal, Wicked Saints prioritizes narrative fit. The studio has featured high-profile creators alongside individuals with minimal online presence but compelling stories, reinforcing the idea that credibility inside the game comes from lived experience rather than reach alone.

Backed by investors including Riot Games, Wicked Saints has raised more than $5 million to date.

What Comes Next?

“World Reborn” is currently available on iOS in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, with a broader international rollout planned for late spring or early summer 2026. Wicked Saints plans to expand its roster of creator-embedded quests, covering topics including mental health, acts of kindness, and the environment.

For creators and brands already running campaigns, Jessica sees Wicked Saints as a complementary layer. “If you’re already doing something people care about,” she says, “we can help turn that care into action.”

Regarding her hopes for future creator-led campaigns, her answer returns to the same principle that shaped #TogetherWeGame. 

“We shouldn’t just inspire people,” Jessica says. “We should design experiences that help them believe they can do something and then actually do it.”

Photo source: Wicked Saints Studio

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