Hardware brands long ago wrote the creator gifting playbook: send the product, let the creator put it on camera, and let audience desire do the rest. A web browser has no physical product to send. It arrives as a download, not a package, making it harder to turn into compelling visual content.
That challenge led Piotr Konieczny, Influencer Marketing Specialist at Opera GX, to rethink how a software company could borrow the hardware industry’s approach. The result is “The Final Piece,” a creator campaign that sends influencers premium gaming hardware they choose themselves, from OLED monitors to high-end GPUs, while positioning Opera GX as the free software upgrade that completes the setup. Since launching in March 2026, the campaign has generated more than 22 million views on TikTok and another six million on Instagram. It also reflects a move into short-form social for Opera GX, away from YouTube and Twitch, where the company has traditionally concentrated its influencer investment.
“The end goal is for them to have this feeling that will later attract conversions,” Piotr says.
For Opera GX, the hardware isn’t the product being marketed. It’s the vehicle that gives creators a story to tell and audiences a reason to pay attention before introducing the browser as the final piece of the setup.
A Setup Fund That Needed a Story
“The Final Piece” did not begin as a campaign with a frame. It began as a budget.
The original concept was simpler: give creators a fund to upgrade their setups however they liked, then have them mention Opera GX along the way. Piotr rejected it early. “This initial idea was not really polished, and it wasn’t really something that I wanted to push through,” he says. “With influencers, there needs to be something more, some deeper connection to the product.”
Of all the gear you need to build the perfect gaming setup, you’re probably sleeping on one of the most important, the browser. Opera GX adds the perfect twist of customization, mods, and QOL features that make it a must try 🔥 . @Opera GX . #operagx#GXthefinalpiece#operagxpartner#gamingsetup#pcgamingsetup
The revision came from a framing Opera had already been developing: GX as a component of the gaming setup rather than software adjacent to it, something that belongs on the desk alongside the keyboard and the monitor. Piotr built the campaign around that premise. Opera selects hardware with creators, often peripherals and components they have wanted but haven’t purchased. GX arrives on top of that as the free software upgrade that the setup was always missing.
Pitched at the start of 2026 and live by March, the campaign also had one concept that didn’t survive logistics. Opera had originally planned to include physical branded merchandise alongside the hardware. Shipping from Europe to creators across the U.S. and the UK made it impractical. The concept was replaced by a digital thank-you card. Piotr says the merchandise idea remains a possibility if the campaign continues on its current trajectory.
The Economics of Spending Real Money on a Free Product
Shipping gaming hardware to promote a free browser requires a specific internal argument.
For a product that costs nothing to download, Piotr’s ROI calculation is measured in new users, not revenue. New users, in his view, follow attention before they follow purchase intent. “Conversions only follow attention,” he says. The campaign’s logic follows from that: if attention in the tech-and-setup niche can be captured through creator content, conversion to users should eventually follow.
That reasoning also shapes how the campaign handles screen time. When Tech a video that drew 1.3 million views, the hardware occupied most of the screen time. Opera GX arrived in the closing seconds. Piotr does not consider that a loss. “If a creator opens a video with a screen recording of a browser, viewers immediately recognize it as a sponsored ad and scroll past it,” he says. “Opera GX is the accessible payoff.”
The campaign’s full economics rest on one additional premise: that the tech-and-setup audience on TikTok overlaps substantially with GX’s existing gaming user base. Piotr says that overlap, established through years of YouTube and Twitch campaigns, gave the team confidence that attention in this niche would eventually convert to users even without direct-response mechanics.
Why Opera Reviewed Every Creator Personally
Scale required agency partners. Trust in the roster required something else.
Opera worked with three agencies on “The Final Piece.” Pixly, a U.S.-based partner the company has worked with since Opera GX’s early days, handled the American market and knew the product well enough to source quickly. The Node, a French agency that specializes in high-volume and affiliate-style campaigns, covered European distribution. A third agency, new to Opera and focused on TikTok and Instagram rather than the company’s primary YouTube and Twitch channels, was brought in for social-specific reach.
The agencies handled sourcing. Piotr handled final vetting, reviewing every creator personally before approving anyone for the campaign. “If the videos do not deliver the content we want, then we would be generally just coming back to the very beginning and sourcing creators again,” he says. “It’s much safer.”
The primary target was creators in the setup and tech niche, channels that film their desks, document hardware builds, and attract audiences invested in both aesthetics and performance. Creators from gaming and general <a href="https://comicvibe.com/entertainment-news-today-live-updates-on-july-20-2026-jiostar-bets-big-on-bigg-boss-salman-khan-mohanlal-sourav-ganguly-other-mega-stars-headline-six-language-expansion/” title=”Entertainment News Today LIVE Updates on July 20, 2026: JioStar bets big on Bigg Boss: Salman Khan, Mohanlal, Sourav Ganguly & other mega stars headline six-language expansion”>entertainment channels with demonstrably good setups were also approved, even when setups weren’t their central content. The campaign targeted 70 to 75 creators per quarter. As of early July, Opera had passed its 60th creator, with roughly half posting across multiple platforms.
I’m so happy with how my setup looks now I have everything matching with my green aesthetic! 💚 It’s finally complete 😌 And thank you to @Opera GX for gifting me the Deltahub Wrist rests to add to my look!! Complete your set-up for free here: https://operagx.gg/cosyorenda #GXTheFinalPiece#OperaGX
Organic First, Then Amplify
About 60% of “The Final Piece’s” videos have paid spend behind them, distributed through TikTok’s Spark Ads format. “Our philosophy is strictly organic first,” Piotr says. “Once we can verify that a video can hold attention on its own, we use paid spend to amplify the best of the best.”
That discipline extended to the creative brief. Opera provides detailed guidelines on how GX should be positioned visually, along with technical requirements and brand safety parameters. Beyond those constraints, creators control the execution. “Because authenticity drives performance, we simply cannot afford too many strict rules,” Piotr says. “The brief delivers the brand knowledge, and we trust influencers to deliver the creativity needed to resonate with their own audience.”
The creative latitude produced variety that the team hadn’t anticipated. The campaign attracted setups ranging from nature-themed desks to full RGB gaming rooms with PCs mounted on walls and, at the outer end, a creator streaming in a full-body VR suit on a VR treadmill. “I wasn’t expecting this level of variety in the setup niche,” Piotr says. “Whether your setup is built for hardcore gaming or a cozy aesthetic, everyone can push their customization further with GX.”
The Final piece of the Racing Sim, thanks to @Opera GX be sure to check out the best gaming browser out there! #racingsimulator#desksetup#gxthefinalpiece#operagx#operagxpartner
Building the Expertise Before the Brief
“The Final Piece” works, Piotr says, because of what preceded it. “It takes years of experience to pull something like this off, and it definitely takes a lot of working hours.”
He is also specific about where that expertise needs to sit. Opera’s influencer and social media teams operate as separate functions with distinct responsibilities, collaborating when needed. Piotr credits that division with giving the influencer side genuine specialization rather than folding it into broader marketing execution. “Having an actual influencer team within the marketing team,” he says. “People who are not only marketing experts, but also specialize in Influencer Marketing.”
The campaign continues, with new creators added each month. For software brands watching from the outside, the core argument “The Final Piece” makes is structural as much as creative: a browser that can’t be unboxed can still own a desk, as long as the team behind it has spent enough time understanding whose desk it belongs on.
“‘The Final Piece’ is explicitly a top-of-the-funnel campaign,” Piotr says, “and we operate on the core belief that high-quality attention eventually brings conversion.”
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