AMC was looking for a way to tap into the passion of the massive audience of The Walking Dead to encourage live viewing and extend the conversation throughout the week beyond Sunday night.
As one of the highest rated shows on cable, The Walking Dead had become a cultural phenomenon. With an extremely passionate and engaged fanbase, AMC wanted to provide viewers with an experience that continued interaction with The Walking Dead universe outside of weekly viewing, while driving additional sponsorship opportunities.
To achieve AMC’s goals, the concept was developed to create a fantasy game for The Walking Dead. The premise of the game was to task players with choosing a “team” of survivors each week from the show’s cast, gaining points based on the actions of their team members. While the idea was precipitated to satiate the demands of the super-fan, it would also be accessible to new viewers. Similar to a fantasy football game, players would interact throughout the week by researching and speculating on the best roster for each week, but actual points would be earned Sunday night during live broadcasts. The result was a one-of-a-kind experience that was built on fantasy sports and activated against the backdrop of scripted dramatic television.