Hypnopolis
View the case- Brand
- BMW
- Year
- 2023
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Automotive
- Mechanic
- Mini-Games
- Platform
- In-Game
- Agency
- Jung Von Matt/next
Objective
BMW wanted the iX2's world premiere to land with a young, digital-first audience that tunes out traditional car advertising — letting them explore and interact with the new electric crossover before the official campaign had even started. Rather than buying media inside Fortnite, BMW built a native game experience where the brand comes through in play and easter eggs, and used it to stake a first: the first brand given access to build a Car Creator inside Fortnite.
Solution
Players drop into BMW's own Fortnite island, a futuristic city built around real BMW landmarks like BMW Welt and the BMW Museum. Julia, BMW's in-world electromechanic, greets players and asks for help building her dream car, sending them through a run of challenges across the island. Clearing them unlocks a hidden garage under BMW Welt's twin cone, where players step into the first-ever in-game Car Creator and customize an iX2 — picking paint, wheels, and interior touches that range from playful options to the real production choices. The session closes with a race to chase down and recover the finished car after it's stolen.
Results
100,000 visits during the launch window, with players averaging 30 minutes per session.
- 1
Players enter the island either by typing its Fortnite island code into Creative search or by finding it listed under Discover.
- 2
Players land in Hypnopolis, a small futuristic BMW-branded city of skyscrapers, floating bridges, and green space, where real BMW landmarks — the four-cylinder headquarters, BMW Welt's double cone, and the BMW Museum — double as navigation markers and easter eggs.
- 3
Julia, a BMW-branded Fortnite character working as an electromechanic, greets the player and sets up the premise: help her rebuild her dream car by completing a series of challenges across the city.
- 4
The core loop is three mini-game challenges spread across the city, required to progress, while players can also roam the map to find hidden branding and easter eggs along the way.
- 5
Clearing all three challenges unlocks the Car Creator, a customization area hidden beneath BMW Welt's double cone.
- 6
In the Car Creator, players build a BMW iX2 by choosing paint, wheels, and trunk contents; at first only a limited, gamified prototype-camouflage palette is available, and a fuller catalog of production paints, wheels, and interior options unlocks later to match the car's real-world market debut.
- 7
Alongside the real BMW options sit fantasy customization items referencing Fortnite culture, such as burger-themed wheels and a galaxy-print paint job.
- 8
Once built, the car can be driven on the island's race track, where players compete against friends or other players, using items to hinder rivals and navigating obstacles like a charged dome that temporarily stops a car.
- 9
The narrative closes with a final race against a rival who has stolen the player's car, with winning meaning getting it back.
- 10
The Car Creator also exists as a separate, standalone island with its own code, letting players jump straight into customization without going through the challenges.
