Striking Control: The CP3.IX-Bit Game
- Brand
- Jordan Brand
- Year
- 2015
- Objective
- Product Launch
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Arcade & Action
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- AKQA
Objective
Jordan Brand needed to launch the CP3.IX, Chris Paul's ninth signature shoe, in a way that got real fans invested rather than handing early access to resellers and bots who typically swept limited drops. Making purchase access something players had to earn through skill filtered for genuine engagement, and mobile web put the game where the audience already was. The campaign aimed at both basketball fans and sneakerheads at once, tying play directly to the product launch.
Solution
The game opens straight in a phone's browser at jordan.com/strikingcontrol, no install needed, dropping the player into a pixel-art Chris Paul running with a basketball through a stormy, neon-lit 8-bit city at night, scored to an original Drake and Boi-1da track. As the run auto-scrolls, the player steers Paul around oncoming cars and dodges lightning strikes using his signature moves, racking up points for every obstacle cleared. The longer the run, the more it pays off: new CP3.IX colorways unlock right in the game, along with purchase rights on Jordan.com and customization access on NIKEiD, so a deeper run means a more exclusive reward. A social layer runs on top of the solo game - fans on Twitter could tweet a lightning-bolt emoji with #StrikingControl to strike another player's run in progress. The run ends the moment Paul gets hit, leaving the player with a final score and whatever tier of access they've unlocked.
- 1
The game opens directly in a browser at jordan.com/strikingcontrol or strikingcontrol.com, requiring no download or install, on phone or desktop.
- 2
A run begins with a pixel-art, 8-bit rendering of Chris Paul dribbling a basketball through a retro, storm-lit city, set to a custom Drake and Boi-1da track.
- 3
The core loop is dodging: the player ducks and steers Paul side to side to avoid oncoming street traffic and trucks without losing the dribble, expressed through his signature moves — crossover, behind-the-back, hesitation move, between-the-legs, side-step, and spin.
- 4
Lightning strikes from above are a separate hazard read apart from ground traffic; these bolts are triggered by other people's tweets — a lightning-bolt emoji with #StrikingControl converts into a strike that disrupts someone's run.
- 5
Trash-talk lines surface during the run, taunting the player to keep going.
- 6
Score builds continuously through the run, and rising totals unlock new CP3.IX colorways the player can put on the character in-game.
- 7
In-game milestones double as purchase access: reaching them unlocks the ability to buy CP3.IX product on Jordan.com and to customize a pair in NIKEiD, with deeper progress unlocking increasingly exclusive items.
- 8
The same game also existed outside the browser as a live immersive experience and a retro arcade cabinet at the Kings of SoCal tournament on the Santa Monica pier.
