Monster Hunter Wilds Webcomic Contest

To celebrate the launch of Monster Hunter Wilds, WEBTOON partnered with video game developer CAPCOM to activate the franchise's most valuable asset: its fervent community. Together, they launched a global fan-focused Webcomic Contest, inviting creators to develop original narratives set within the Monster Hunter universe.
WEBTOON activated its creator ecosystem, encouraging fans to contribute their own interpretations of the IP. The community-first campaign was fully integrated across the WEBTOON platform through homepage takeovers, targeted push notifications, in-app placements, and strategic support from established creators to drive early momentum.
The campaign evolved into a massive shared experience, with engagement surging both on-platform and across external community hubs like Reddit and Discord. By prioritizing community creativity and artistic ownership, WEBTOON transformed a standard game launch into a global interactive storytelling event. This project proved that when a brand empowers its audience to become co-authors of its world, the result is massive in scale and develops deep, meaningful brand affinity.
A main challenge was to incentivize creators to invest the intense effort required to produce original webcomics. Unlike passive social engagement, the contest demanded hours of narrative development and illustration. The challenge for the WEBTOON team was to design a submission process that felt accessible to newcomers while remaining rewarding enough for seasoned artists.
The campaign activated the fan base and delivered both scale and meaningful engagement for the Monster Hunter Wilds launch, generating over 200 million total impressions. This included 4.8 million earned media impressions and 7.35 million organic social impressions, proving the campaign's ability to move beyond traditional placements. The strategy attracted more than 225,000 unique readers and motivated the community to produce 165 high-fidelity, fan-created webcomics. These original narratives generated over 47,000 unique reads, demonstrating that the content resonated deeply with a broad audience of prospective players.
Performance metrics outperformed industry benchmarks, with a 4.1% average CTR—a 64% increase over standard rates. The campaign drove measurable brand impact through the funnel: a +11.6% lift in awareness, +9% lift in consideration, and +14% lift in intent to play.