I think a great, but rather - no actually very risky - tactic would be to start the marketing phase within 3 days of release.
Have an obscure video surface on the Internet showcasing small 10-20 second clips with each progressing one revealing more and more. Eventually people get the picture and rumours surface. Over those three days, it goes viral (much like the Fallout 4 rumours). Basically let it spread through the Internet and word-of-mouth. With the world we live in, it takes seconds to launch a successful marketing campaign. Sure it would be risky, but people want the game and if they released it around the holiday season then people would have money too.
Beyonce did it with her album and it was a huge success, not saying it's a tactic that should be replicated by everyone, but I thought it would have been very unique for this particular game (given how a such a large portion talk about it so much).