The All England Lawn Tennis Club is making its entry to online gaming platform Fortnite, with the launch of Race to Wimbledon.
The announcement is accompanied by various digital initiatives for Wimbledon fans that have been released today, including new features on its Roblox experience WimbleWorld, a new gamified tennis app Wimbledon Smash, and a collaboration with mobile game Tennis Clash.
Players of Race to Wimbledon – which is presented in partnership with Amercian Express – will run, drive, parkour and fly past London landmarks, including Big Ben and the London Eye, through Wimbledon village and past Andy Murray’s golden letterbox, navigating around obstacles such as giant strawberries and tennis rackets, to make it to Centre Court in the fastest time.
As well as on all the usual devices, this will be available to play on-site throughout The Championships at the American Express Fan Experience in the Southern Village.
As part of the experience, players are challenged to beat the time of American Express ambassador Murray and post their time to social media.
The #Wimbledon journey begins now 🌱
Join us live for Day One of Qualifying 👇
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 26, 2023
Chris Clements, Digital Products Lead at the All England Club, says: “The magic of Wimbledon has reached many generations of fans in every corner of the world.”
“With changes in the way people consume content and interact with sports events, it is important that we find new ways to reach them and convey what makes Wimbledon so special. We believe this range of initiatives, including Race to Wimbledon, will help us achieve this ambition.”
In 2022, the All England Club launched WimbleWorld on metaverse platform Roblox, receiving more than 12 million visits.
New additions on WimbleWorld will be rolled out from Tuesday 27th June.
These include the Lawn of Champions, where players can try their hand at preparing the famous grass courts of SW19, by mowing and painting the lines.
There is also a treasure hunt where people can earn a hawk to sit on the shoulder of their avatar across all Roblox experiences. Live scores will feature in the experience, in a first for Roblox.
New for 2023, Wimbledon has rebranded and updated its gamified tennis experience app, now known as Wimbledon Smash.
This sees players control a racket to ‘serve’ a tennis ball and break as many bricks as possible, with rain, wind and surprise items affecting the game. The app features a year round ‘campaign’ mode, where players can train and progress through different levels.
On 3rd July, a Championships mode will be launched in line with the commencement of the Wimbledon fortnight.
Those who reach the top ten on the leaderboard will be eligible to win prizes such as semi-final tickets for The Championships 2024 and a range of items from the Wimbledon Shop.
For the first time, fans will get the opportunity to have their name displayed just feet away from Centre Court, as the Wimbledon Smash leaderboard will be shown on screens around the Grounds between 3rd and 16th July.
During The Championships, it is also possible to take part in Wimbledon season on Tennis Clash, a tennis mobile gaming app.
Usama Al-Qassab, Marketing & Commercial Director at the All England Club, comments: “The scale of Fortnite and Roblox with more than 200 million players each, and the enjoyment these players experience through digital initiatives like Race to Wimbledon and WimbleWorld, will help Wimbledon reach new audiences in even more immersive ways than ever before.”
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