NIKELAND
Read the story- Brand
- Nike
- Year
- 2021
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Mini-Games
- Platform
- In-Game
Objective
Nike wanted a foothold in the platform where Gen Z and Gen Alpha were already spending their time, and a way to be part of that culture rather than advertise into it. A free, always-open space removed the price barrier to "trying sport," while a virtual fitting room could put kids in Air Force 1s, Blazers, and Air Max years before their first real purchase.
Solution
Players drop their avatar into an open-world recreation of Nike's Beverton campus and are free to just run around — no menus, no loading screens between zones. From there they jump into sport-themed mini-games like tag, "the floor is lava," and dodgeball, earning rewards as they go. A digital showroom lets them try on virtual Nike sneakers and apparel to gear up their avatar. On mobile, the phone's accelerometer turns the player's real-world movement into in-game "superpowers" — longer jumps, faster sprints — so running in your living room translates to running on screen. Players can also build their own courts and mini-games on their personal plot, and return for limited-time events like Free Kick Frenzy or the World Cup's Cup Clash.
Results
6.7 million visitors from 224 countries by March 2022, rising to 21 million total visitors by September 2022 (7 million of them in the first two months alone); nearly 118,000 players favorited the experience.
- 1
Players open NIKELAND for free inside Roblox, on phone, PC, or console, with no purchase required to enter.
- 2
The avatar spawns into an open-world campus modeled on Nike's real headquarters in Beverton, Oregon, complete with sports fields, activity areas, and campus buildings to explore.
- 3
Each player is given a personal, customizable space called the Yard on their first visit, where they rearrange fields and rules, adding obstacles, ramps, and trampolines to remix classic sports games to their own taste.
- 4
The core loop is picking a campus minigame, such as tag, the floor is lava, or dodgeball, and competing live against other players who share the session, running, dodging, and eliminating opponents.
- 5
On mobile, real-world motion read through the phone's accelerometer translates into in-game actions, letting players trigger long jumps and sprints by moving or shaking the device.
- 6
Competing, exploring, and finding hidden easter eggs earns blue ribbons and gold medals, and medals are spent to unlock cosmetic accessories for the avatar.
- 7
A digital showroom lets players dress their avatar in Nike products such as Air Force 1, Nike Blazer, Air Force 1 "Fontanka," Air Max 2021, ACG, and Nike Tech Pack, while some gear, including Air Force 1 and the Mercurial Superfly 8 boots, is unlocked for free simply by exploring the world.
- 8
During the NBA All-Star Week event, players could join a court where LeBron James appeared as a coach, unlocking exclusive LeBron 19 colorways by completing physical activity in-game.
- 9
A World Cup 2022 event, Cup Clash, had players complete a three-stage competition for free tournament-styled jerseys and search the map for a hidden NPC octopus near the football stadium for an on-the-spot reward; a later addition, the Free Kick Frenzy minigame, has players take penalty shots with friends to unlock further avatar gear.
- 10
The experience extended offline in December 2021, when a Snapchat AR lens at the Nike House of Innovation store in New York overlaid NIKELAND avatars and games onto the store's kids' floor in real space.
