Microsoft has launched the Fable III: Kingmaker  interactive, integrated, multi-platform marketing campaign for the Fable III  X-box video game. Spearheaded by the creation of a unique geo-location based social gaming experience, the campaign broke across seven European markets simultaneously on Monday of this week.

The campaign has been developed by Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business EMEA’s retained advertising agency, McCann London. Built collaboratively with Fable III developer Lionhead Studios, McCann has also engaged specialist partners Grapple Mobile and Unit 9 to deliver Fable III: Kingmaker, a mobile game in which members of the public join one of two factions, competing to capture as much territory as possible. Using the Kingmaker mobile app and Kingmaker website, players grab territory using the GPS in their mobile phones to tag their location with a virtual flag.

Players are rewarded for participation with in-game ’Gold’ which can then be transferred into the full game of Fable III on Xbox 360, which launches on 29 October. The Gold can be spent on player customisation and in-game products. This is the first time such cross-platform integration has been used on an Xbox 360 console game and will be a key incentive, driving players to take part.

Fable III: Kingmaker has been designed to promote the action-packed adventure title pre-launch and, capitalising on the growing popularity of geo-location based games, creates an opportunity for Xbox to engage with its community and appeal to wider audiences to drive sales.

This app is supported by further creative executions in media, with McCann & its sister company Universal McCann (Xbox’s retained media planning & buying agency) developing a Live Ticker banner ad, integrating a scrolling news header displaying real time updates of what’s going on in Fable III: Kingmaker  at that moment, as well as players’ comments pulled in from Twitter. Bespoke homepage takeovers have also been designed with online media partners across the region, and will run alongside personalised print executions, tailored to individual magazine subscribers, using Fable III: Kingmaker call to arms advertisements.

Awareness will also be driven in core Xbox communities via Facebook and Twitter, as well as the Xbox Community Network, a network of over 100 community-curated sites across Europe. Facebook pages and Twitter feeds will be created for each faction, allowing players to interact throughout the campaign as they plot world domination.