The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2024–2026
PlayStation turned fans' game memories into a YOASOBI song
For its 30th, PlayStation had YOASOBI turn 26,000+ fan memories into an anthem that won Spikes Asia's Music Grand Prix.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
The solution
PlayStation turned 30 in December 2024 and could have made a nostalgia reel of its own milestones; instead it asked players, via #MemoryOfPlay on X, which game they would erase to experience again.
More than 26,000 memories poured in. SIE and Hakuhodo partnered with YOASOBI, who composed 'PLAYERS' from the real player stories; the ad film starred actor Nishino Nanase, VTuber Usada Pekora and streamer Kiyo, with characters inspired by the performers themselves, alongside a Spotify playlist of PlayStation soundtracks.
The campaign won the Spikes Asia 2026 Grand Prix for Music (Influencer & Co-Creation) and a Bronze in Gaming, plus a Cannes Lions 2025 Silver and ADFEST Gold — proof that co-created memory beat brand nostalgia.
Why it worked
- It inverted the anniversary formula: the brand gave the stage to players' memories, so the tribute was personal to every fan.
- YOASOBI's composition turned thousands of anecdotes into one beloved artefact that fans then wanted to share.
- Casting community figures — VTuber, streamer, actor — made the film feel native to gaming culture rather than corporate.
What can be applied
For an anniversary, don't celebrate the brand's history — celebrate the audience's, and let a beloved creator turn their stories into something they want to share back.
Aftermath
'PLAYERS' became the soundtrack of the anniversary: the ad aired on Japanese television, the Spotify playlist paired the new song with decades of game soundtracks, and the Spikes Asia 2026 Grand Prix confirmed the model — community memories as the raw material for branded entertainment.
Sources
- 「Project: MEMORY CARD」— YOASOBI's PlayStation 30th anniversary theme song ad revealed
- Project: MEMORY CARD
- Spikes Asia 2026 announced — McDonald's, Zespri and PlayStation take Grand Prix
- Spikes Asia 2026 Award Report — Project: MEMORY CARD
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