Many aspects of completions and stimulation treatments for unconventional reservoirs have benefitted from the development and optimization of new technologies. However, perforating gun systems have remained largely unchanged. Perforating systems historically used in conventional reservoirs are the same for plug and perf completions within unconventional plays. These systems create long, spiral-pattern perforations that were originally designed to provide effective omnidirectional drainage pattern along the entire perforated length. Is this optimal for unconventional wells and should we continue to use them? To create hydraulic fractures perpendicular to the wellbore axis, the orientation of horizontal wells is typically parallel to the least principal stress in unconventional reservoirs. This geometry limits the contact area between the primary hydraulic fracture and the wellbore. Yet, in order for traditional perforating systems to provide sufficient inflow geometry for stimulation, they must create multiple entry points along the axis of the wellbore. This may cause initiation of several competing hydraulic fractures instead of one dominate fracture. Multiple fractures in the near wellbore region (‘fracture tortuosity’) may cause the development of a choke that limits the ability to perform the treatment. Furthermore, the perforations are typically not oriented despite the direction of the perforation playing a key role in the pressure required to initiate the hydraulic fracture. In short, a current multiple entry system extended along the axis of the wellbore reduces the efficiency of the treatment. It therefor makes sense to design a perforating system that would mitigate these factors and increase the reliability of hydraulic fracturing treatments in unconventional reservoirs. An optimized unconventional perforating system should axially consolidate the link between the well and the hydraulic fracture and orient the perforations with the aim of reducing the variability and magnitude of the fracture initiation pressure. This paper presents a novel and proven perforating system that features only three orthogonally oriented shaped charges. Field trial results presented here reveal positive indications concerning breakdown pressures, near wellbore friction, and treatment pressures. More importantly, this design exhibited faster and more stable injection rates at reduced treatment pressures. This paper will compare the fracture treatment performance on stages perforated using conventional systems against those stages perforated with the new system. It will also discuss the system qualification and operational planning, and discuss the merits of new perforating designs for unconventional stimulations.