Ian Packard, COO of OS Studios, has always been drawn to youth culture. At his first boutique agency, he gravitated toward ideas that felt inevitable, like they should have already existed.
“We were scrappy, stylish, and slightly chaotic,” he says. “But running that agency taught me two things. First, small teams with conviction can punch above their weight. Second, you don’t need to be big to win. You just need to be precise.”
That mindset shaped the foundation of OS Studios, which Packard co-founded with longtime creative partner John Higgins. “We started OS to solve a clear problem,” says Packard. “Traditional agencies didn’t understand gaming. And gaming companies didn’t know how to speak to a broader audience. OS was built to bridge that gap.”
Since then, the team has worked with some of the world’s most influential names in gaming and sport, earning a reputation for cultural fluency, creative strategy, and audience-first thinking. In 2021, OS Studios was acquired by Project Worldwide, a global network of independent agencies known for their leadership in experiential, digital, and creative work.
Packard, Higgins, and their team remain focused on the same goal: turning fans into advocates and helping brands earn a lasting place in the culture.
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The potential of gaming
Packard began his career in media, working across production, film, and television. While gaming wasn’t his initial focus, he always had a clear sense of what audiences actually cared about.
“What drew me to gaming was the scale and the passion,” he says. “It was one of the few spaces where the audience was driving culture in real time and doing it together. I wanted in.”
He saw gaming as an opportunity to engage a massive, loyal audience that was actively shaping culture. It was a creatively open space that rewarded bold thinking and fresh formats.
Packard and Higgins shared a deep understanding of Gen Z culture and storytelling. Together, they built OS to serve the entire gaming ecosystem, not just esports.
“When we launched OS Studios, we didn’t just support competitive gaming,” Packard says. “We built for the whole ecosystem: streamers, fans, publishers, platforms. We’ve since worked with global leaders like Riot Games, Activision, the NBA, and Amazon, but every campaign still starts with the same question. If this showed up unprompted, would anyone care? If not, we keep going until it’s something they would.”
Playing a critical role in the fan experience
In the early days of OS Studios, Packard and Higgins did it all: creative, logistics, strategy, and operations. “When you’re building from scratch, titles don’t matter. Outcomes do,” Packard says. That hands-on experience shaped OS Studios’ audience-first approach to every project.
Today, OS is a much larger team, but Packard stays close to the creative core, especially during early pitch phases or when a bold idea needs to stay protected through execution. One project that exemplified this is Call of Duty: NEXT, a launch that helped set the bar for what a modern AAA campaign can look like.
“It’s become the benchmark,” he says. “Audience-first, scalable, and creatively consistent across every touchpoint. That’s the goal, whether we’re working with Twitch, Riot, or MLS.”
Award-winning strategy
OS Studios gained early traction through key partnerships that led to large-scale campaigns for “Call of Duty” and the “NBA 2K League.” For a long time, Packard and Higgins focused on execution over recognition, prioritizing the work itself.
“We’ve picked up some great awards,” says Packard. “Muse, EX, Clios, Drum, a stack of Tempests, and even an Emmy for our work with Broadway On Demand. But as a smaller team, entering awards hasn’t always been the priority. It takes real resources: time, budget, and focus. We put all of that into the work.”
That approach shifted with their recent campaigns.
“We made a conscious decision to step onto the global stage,” he says. “We submitted to Cannes Lions, One Club, and other shows typically dominated by the big holding groups. The work earned that spotlight. From year three of Call of Duty: NEXT to the global Riot slate to the ‘Arcane’ Season 2 launch with Netflix, the ambition and follow-through were there. These weren’t just strong campaigns. They set a benchmark.”
What’s next
Looking ahead, OS Studios plans to keep pushing creative boundaries while staying grounded in what has always mattered most: relevance, impact, and longevity.
“Originality isn’t about chasing trends,” says Packard. “It’s about building something meaningful, made for the audience, and built to last.”
