Credits
Client: Riot Games
Year: 2022
Director: Josh Frackleton
Executive Producers: Nick Brown & Josh Frackleton
Producers: Nick Brown, Kitty Von-Sometime, Baldvinsson Bu, Danielle McRae Spisso
Coordinator: Karl Magnus
Director of Photography: Daniel Williams
Production Design: Victor Petur
HMU: Kassandra Karr, Spusi Tscherney
Editors: Josh Frackleton, Minh Bui, Aaron Greenbaum
VFX: Dylan Donaldson
Colorist: Daniel Williams
Production Company: Good Boy & Hero Iceland
VALORANT MASTERS:
BECOME THE NIGHTMARE
VALORANT Masters Reykjavík 2022 marked a major milestone in the game's second year of international competition. Held from April 10–24 in Reykjavík, Iceland, the tournament drew massive global attention, peaking at over 1 million concurrent viewers, and solidified Valorant's place on the world esports stage. With the theme "Become the Nightmare," the event signaled a shift toward a darker, more psychological tone. We embraced this creative direction by leaning into eerie visuals, shadow-heavy lighting, and more surreal narrative elements to heighten the sense of fear and intensity throughout the campaign.
To match this energy, we set out to create a visual campaign that was bold, unsettling, and cinematic. We needed a set that could photograph eight qualifying teams — over 40 players — in ways that felt both cohesive and individually striking. Our solution was a haunted house: a flexible environment that could shift from eerie calm to chaotic intensity as the tournament progressed. The concept embodied the idea that in competition, there are those who fear, and those who are feared.
Inspired by classic horror cinema, we made a daring creative choice for one of our main promo films. The piece depicted the fall of early-round teams and the arrival of top seeds — a visceral portrayal of how the pressure and darkness of the competition mounted over time.
Reykjavík
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Reykjavík .