01 — Project details
Remnant: From the Ashes is an original intellectual property developed by Gunfire Games, a smaller independent studio known for its work in virtual reality and for being the current custodian of the Darksiders franchise. The game combines elements from different genres, featuring a co-op third-person shooter format that incorporates the challenging gameplay typical of Dark Souls, alongside procedurally generated worlds and gun mechanics. It was released on August 20, 2019, at $39.99 across various platforms, including Steam, the Epic Games Store, Arc, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. At the time, we were newly collaborating with Gunfire as a development partner, without any existing audience for "Remnant" to draw upon.
02 — The challenge
Launch an unproven IP from a smaller studio during a crowded release window, competing with AAA franchises that have much larger marketing budgets. Persuade players to try a $39.99 game from a less-known developer. Generate pre-orders and initial digital sales without the costs of a blockbuster release, and position the game for sustained content updates instead of just a single launch.
03 — What I Owned
Paid Social Ad Spend: Managed the paid social budget and creative testing for the title across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Focused on audience targeting for the Souls-like and co-op shooter segments that were most likely to convert.
Digital Advertising Program: Coordinated digital ad placements and pacing throughout the campaign, adjusting spending around key moments such as the E3 2019 Story Trailer reveal, the Gamescom 2019 Launch Trailer, and the VIP Preview Weekend pre-order push.
Pre-order Funnel Support: Promoted paid social campaigns around the VIP Preview Weekend bonus, which offered pre-order buyers three days of early access. This strategy generated two distinct waves of media coverage and creator content, rather than just one.
Cross-Channel Coordination: Collaborated with the broader marketing team to synchronize trailer releases, activate content creators, and provide support after the launch.
Gamescom launch trailer for Remnent: From the Ashes
+1M
Units sold in 10 weeks
48.2k
Concurrent Steam players at launch
+100k
Combined social media followers
04 — Results
Remnant: From the Ashes launched as the sleeper hit of 2019. Steam alone hit a launch-week peak of 48,194 concurrent players and averaged 26,342 concurrent across the launch month — exceptional numbers for a mid-tier title from a smaller studio. The base game crossed 1 million units in roughly ten weeks, 1.6 million by July 2020 (far exceeding Gunfire's internal expectations), and 3 million by December 2021. The IP has since supported two paid DLC expansions, a Complete Edition, a physical retail release, a Nintendo Switch port, and the franchise sequel Remnant 2 (2023).
05 — More information
Remnant was initially a paid-social and digital advertising project before becoming anything else— a small studio's first major release, competing against budgets ten times larger, where every dollar needed to generate conversions. working on it taught me how to scale campaigns based on existing assets, leverage creator and PR moments instead of opposing them, and plan for sustained engagement rather than short-term spikes.