Pick a Lock, Win a PS4

Thief released today in Europe, and Square Enix decided to promote it with a giveaway that’s really in the spirit of the game.

Ten GAME stores in the UK participated in the giveaway. At 11 AM, shoppers could try to open a locked chest. They were given lock-picks and five minutes to work on it, with the contents of the chest as their prize. These prizes included a PS4, a PS Vita, an AMD gaming PC, store vouchers for GAME, and a copy of the “Art of Thief” book, signed by the game’s director, Nicolas Cantin.

We haven’t heard how the promotion turned out, but one N4G user reported that they visited a store in the evening and the prize had already been won. With the limited number of stores participating, we expect it ended quickly.

We’d love to see more promotions like this. Different companies try different things, from regular ad campaigns, to viral videos, to alternate reality games, but a contest that ties in with the gameplay is really a great concept. Of course, for obvious reasons, it would work much better with some games than with others.