Call of Duty: Mobile
Make it Mythic & Jessica Pegula Partnership

A content campaign that reimagined a professional athlete as an in-game hero, bringing female gaming culture to the forefront during International Women’s Month.

Agency: Optimist Inc.
Role: Project Manager / Producer

The Context

Activision partnered with professional tennis player Jessica Pegula to bring Mythic Sophia, one of Call of Duty: Mobile’s most coveted operators, into the real world through a cinematic content campaign.

Timed to launch alongside International Women’s Month, the collaboration aimed to create cultural relevance while spotlighting the strength, authenticity, and growing visibility of female gamers.

As an avid Call of Duty player who games with family and friends to decompress from the pressures of professional sport, Pegula represented a rare crossover of elite athlete and genuine fan allowing the campaign to feel credible rather than promotional.

The opportunity extended beyond a character reveal. It was a chance to challenge assumptions about who gamers are and position women as powerful participants within the franchise’s universe.

The Strategy

Insight

Cultural impact happens when storytelling reflects real identity, not just brand messaging. By transforming a real athlete and authentic fan into a Mythic hero, Activision could bridge sport, gaming, and culture in a way that resonated emotionally with both existing players and new audiences.

What we did

  • Built a four-part content arc spanning teaser, hero film, day-in-the-life, and transformation narratives

  • Followed Pegula from real-world training into the cinematic universe of Mythic Sophia through CGI and visual effects

  • Distributed content across paid and organic social channels to reach players, sports fans, and broader gaming audiences

  • Launched during International Women’s Month to amplify the visibility of female gamers within the franchise

Guardrails

  • Pegula’s fandom and personality needed to remain authentic and unscripted

  • The transformation into Mythic Sophia had to feel cinematic yet emotionally grounded

  • Production timelines had to support a rapid launch aligned with March cultural moments

The Experience

Across four content pieces, the campaign traced Pegula’s journey between everyday discipline and mythic transformation.

  • A teaser introduced the crossover through a short tennis moment.

  • The hero film revealed Pegula gaining supernatural power on the court before transforming into Mythic Sophia in-game.

  • A day-in-the-life piece, shared on Pegula’s own channels, showed how Call of Duty: Mobile fits naturally within her routine as a professional athlete.

  • The final transformation film blended pro-athlete realism with fantastical environments, completing the narrative bridge between sport and game.

Together, the content positioned Pegula not just as a spokesperson, but as a playable symbol of female power within Call of Duty’s universe.

Hero Video

Teaser

Day In the Life

Step Into Mythic

Impact

  • 13 million+ views across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other social platforms

  • Earned media coverage from major sports and tennis outlets, introducing the collaboration to new audiences

  • Cultural conversation around women in gaming and sport, sparked by Pegula’s visible fandom and transformation

The campaign expanded the perception of who belongs in the Call of Duty community while delivering a culturally timely launch moment.

My Role

I led day-to-day client management and owned timelines, budgets, and cross-functional coordination across pre-production, production, and post.

I supported production execution, including wardrobe logistics and collaboration with vendors on custom footwear design, while ensuring rapid communication, revision management, and asset delivery within an accelerated timeline required for International Women’s Month launch.

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