Ubisoft, developer and publisher of the popular Xbox 360 game Splinter Cell Conviction, has developed a text messaging campaign that rewards mobile marketing subscribers with a unique in-game weapon.

The company used Twitter (Twitter), Facebook (Facebook) and e-mail lists to promote the campaign, promising the in-game weapon to players who would text “WEAPON” to 44144*. When a player complied, he or she subscribed to the mobile marketing list and was given a code to unlock the item in the game. Ubisoft saw its mobile subscriptions triple after the promotion went live, and it’s planning to try to repeat its success with the upcoming Prince of Persia game.

The campaign was handled by Waterfall Mobile, the same company that was behind the mobile messaging campaign for the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove. That was the campaign that got attention when the filmmakers held up a sign with the campaign’s texting number on the air during the Oscar awards ceremony.

These text messaging campaigns are a segment of new media marketing that hasn’t gotten much attention until recently. Do you think this is a good way to promote content and products, or are the Splinter Cell players unsubscribing the minute they have their new weapons?