--- title: "Forza Horizon 5 launch campaign" description: "A $1,000,000 launch campaign for Forza Horizon 5 across Xbox and LG, where Tom ran delivery and the creator side: Vikkstar, James Buckley, Aarav and Benny Central, from a test track at Dunsfold Park to their own channels." canonical: https://tomsharman.com/case-studies/forza-horizon-5/ updated: 2026-10-25 --- # Forza Horizon 5 launch campaign > A $1,000,000 launch campaign for Forza Horizon 5 across Xbox and LG, where Tom ran delivery and the creator side: Vikkstar, James Buckley, Aarav and Benny Central, from a test track at Dunsfold Park to their own channels. ## At a glance - Client: Xbox, LG, NewGen, formerly Kairos Media - Tom's role: Account Manager, NewGen (Kairos Media). Ran delivery and the creator side: booked, briefed and managed the four creators. The pitch was won elsewhere in the agency, and Imagination was LG's lead agency. - Years: 2021 - Platforms: YouTube, Livestream, Live event, Xbox Series X - Imagination, LG's lead agency, reports 18.8m online reach and 1.2m online engagement for the campaign, with 95% of event attendees considering LG OLED part of the dream gaming setup. - A launch campaign for Forza Horizon 5 across Xbox and LG. - Tom puts its value at $1,000,000. - LG ran it as LG OLED Unleashed, with Xbox Series X consoles on LG OLED screens. - The centrepiece was a live event at Dunsfold Park, the Top Gear track, in November 2021. - Tom ran delivery and the creator side: Vikkstar, James Buckley, Aarav and Benny Central. - The creators' campaign videos ran from 12 November to 6 December 2021. ## The starting point Forza Horizon 5 is a racing game by Playground Games, published by Xbox Game Studios. It launched on 9 November 2021, with Premium Edition access from 5 November. LG wanted gamers to see OLED televisions as a match for gaming monitors. Its answer was to build a dream gaming setup itself and put creators in it. NewGen, then Kairos Media, is a London agency founded in 2015 that runs campaigns for Gen Z and gaming audiences. The pitch was won elsewhere in the agency. ## What Tom did Tom was Account Manager at NewGen (Kairos Media), running delivery and the creator side on Xbox and LG. He ran delivery of the month long activation. That covered livestreams, in person events, brand channel content and creator channel content. The creator side was his remit. He booked, briefed and managed Vikkstar, James Buckley, Aarav and Benny Central through the campaign. He did not pitch, win or price it, and he counts it among the most useful things he has done. ## How it worked: formats, team, partners, decisions **The live event.** Competition winners spent two days at Dunsfold Park, the Top Gear filming location. They played Forza Horizon 5 on Xbox Series X and LG OLED before its global launch, and met the game's creators. On the runway stood the Dream Gaming Setup, a 4D racing simulator inside a mirrored cube. **The creator finale.** Four streamers raced a driving challenge on the Dunsfold track. Then they played Forza Horizon 5 in the Dream Gaming Setup. The four were Benny Central, Aarav, James Buckley and Vikkstar. The creators called it the #LGOLEDUNLEASHED Forza Frenzy. **The brand film.** LG UK posted LG OLED X Forza Horizon 5 Unleashed on 12 November 2021. Its line: "We challenged @BennyCentral, @Vikkstar123, @James_Buckley & @_aarava to find the dream #ForzaHorizon5 gaming setup." It tags #xboxuk. **The creator content.** Benny Central posted his video on 1 December 2021, marked #ad. He played Forza Horizon 5 early in the setup, raced the challenge and reviewed the LG OLED 48 C1. Vikkstar posted I Raced on the Top Gear Track! on 6 December 2021, sponsored by LG UK. His description thanks LG UK for the place in the Forza Frenzy and for the OLED TV. **The talent.** LG's film names all four by their handles: @BennyCentral, @Vikkstar123, @James_Buckley and @_aarava. ## The results - $1,000,000 campaign value. - 4 creators delivered on track, in the setup and on their channels. - 357,424 views and 24,159 likes on Vikkstar's video. - 8,835 views on Benny Central's video. - 5,601 views on LG UK's film. - 371,860 views across the three public videos found, read 25 October 2026. - Imagination, LG's lead agency, reports 18.8m online reach and 1.2m online engagement for the campaign, and that 95% of attendees consider LG OLED part of the dream gaming setup. ## What it proves Running someone else's brief to someone else's standard teaches what building your own never will. Founder-mode people avoid delivery roles, and Tom counts that a cost. It is the one entry in the record where Tom delivered someone else's campaign to someone else's brief, at scale, with a budget and a client. The same habit runs through his talent work: give the creator the experience first. Here the four raced the Top Gear track, then made the videos. See [Brand partnerships and talent](/playbooks/how-i-work/brand-partnerships-and-talent/). ## Coverage and links - Imagination, LG OLED Unleashed case study. It cites Campaign: "LG delivers secret test-drive gaming experience". - LG UK on YouTube, 12 November 2021. LG OLED X Forza Horizon 5 Unleashed. - BennyCentral on YouTube, 1 December 2021. The DREAM $500,000 Gaming Setup for 2022. - Vikkstar123 on YouTube, 6 December 2021. I Raced on the Top Gear Track!. - The Campaign article itself was not found or opened. - None of the public material names Tom or NewGen. ## The numbers - $1,000,000: campaign value (Tom supplied) - 18.8m: online reach for the campaign, reported by Imagination (Verified) - 1.2m: online engagement, reported by Imagination (Verified) - 95%: of attendees consider LG OLED part of the dream gaming setup, reported by Imagination (Verified) - 4: creators in the finale: Vikkstar, James Buckley, Aarav and Benny Central (Verified) - 357,424: views on Vikkstar's campaign video, I Raced on the Top Gear Track! (Verified) - November 2021: the live event at Dunsfold Park, the Top Gear track (Verified) - 9 November 2021: Forza Horizon 5 launched worldwide (Verified) ## Key videos - [I RACED ON THE TOP GEAR TRACK!](https://tomsharman.com/videos/6-FObkdpC4o/index.md): 357,424 views, 6 December 2021. Vikkstar's video from the #LGOLEDUNLEASHED Forza Frenzy, sponsored by LG UK. The biggest public piece of the campaign. - [The DREAM $500,000 Gaming Setup for 2022 | #LGOLEDUNLEASHED](https://tomsharman.com/videos/1l9mJIIoiVQ/index.md): 8,835 views, 1 December 2021. Benny Central plays Forza Horizon 5 early in the Dream Gaming Setup and races the challenge. - [LG OLED X Forza Horizon 5 Unleashed](https://tomsharman.com/videos/aCBsjczKh4E/index.md): 5,601 views, 12 November 2021. LG UK's own film of the four creators hunting the dream Forza Horizon 5 setup. ## Links ### Videos - [YouTube: LG OLED X Forza Horizon 5 Unleashed, LG UK](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCBsjczKh4E) - [YouTube: I RACED ON THE TOP GEAR TRACK!, Vikkstar123](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-FObkdpC4o) - [YouTube: The DREAM $500,000 Gaming Setup for 2022, BennyCentral](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l9mJIIoiVQ) ### Channels - [Vikkstar123 on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@Vikkstar123) - [BennyCentral on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@BennyCentral) ### More - [Imagination: LG OLED Unleashed case study](https://imagination.com/work/lg-oled/) - [Wikipedia: Forza Horizon 5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forza_Horizon_5) ## Read next - https://tomsharman.com/case-studies/combat-gaming/ - https://tomsharman.com/case-studies/liam-bedford/ - https://tomsharman.com/playbooks/how-i-work/brand-partnerships-and-talent/ - https://tomsharman.com/playbooks/how-i-work/the-event-as-a-studio-content-day/