As the pandemic spread globally, more people played Animal Crossing, Minecraft, and Fortnite than ever before – and they started using these platforms in refreshingly unexpected ways. Here's how brands have gotten in on the action.

1. LOCKDOWN UPDATE – JULY 2020

2. LOCKDOWN
HAS LED TO A
GLOBAL ONLINE
GAMING BOOM

3. 11M
copies of “New Horizons” sold
in March 2020
THE MAIN PLATFORMS
TO WATCH
Play games made by other
people – or develop your
own
Build virtual worlds from
scratch (like online Lego)
Fight virtual battles – the
last one standing wins
Build your animal island
paradise
78M
78m monthly players
112M
monthly players
56M
monthly players

5. ANIMAL CROSSING IS THE BREAKOUT STAR OF LOCKDOWN

6. IT’S SKYROCKETED IN POPULARITY ACROSS THE WORLD
The 4th iteration of the game, New Horizons, sold 11m copies in 11 days in March 2020
*(as measured by Google search interest)

7. PEOPLE ARE USING IT FOR PERSONAL AND THERAPEUTIC REASONS
Virtual parties and dates
Safe collective recovery
support
Joseph Gorordo, 35, is a vice
president of outreach for Recovery
Unplugged, a chain of music-based
alcohol and drug treatment centers.
He and his clients have been using
Animal Crossing as a way to connect
while practicing social distancing.
Funerals and memorials

8. BUT THERE’S ALSO A POLITICAL AND ACTIVIST DIMENSION
Political canvassing Political protests Events like Pride
Global Pride launched a virtual Pride
festival inside Animal Crossing. On
Pride Day itself, 27 June, Twitch
creators from around the world live
streamed a #GlobalPrideCrossing
game session.

9. FASHION BRANDS ARE GETTING IN ON THE ACTION WITH VIRTUAL COLLECTIONS
Valentino
“Nook Street Market” recreates
designer outfits for the platform
Marc Jacobs

10. THE GETTY MUSEUM ENCOURAGES PLAYERS TO ADD VIRTUAL ART FROM ITS ARCHIVES
Users choose an artwork from
The Getty collection...
Get a QR code...
And add it to their Animal
Crossing island

11. THE MUSEUM OF COMPUTING HISTORY SET UP A VIRTUAL VERSION – AND SO DID RESORT ISLAND SENTOSA (WITH BBH SINGAPORE)

12. DELIVEROO AND KFC BOTH LAUNCHED ACTIVATIONS
Brought by avatars in Deliveroo-branded apparel, the deliveries
were handed out to players who previously left comments on
Deliveroo's Facebook page. While their avatars enjoyed their virtual
treats, the players received promo codes to order real food.
Players in the Philippines could win
a bucket of chicken from KFC.
Deliveroo gave Animal Crossers in Singapore the
chance to get a virtual AND physical food delivery

13. COMPANIES ARE STARTING TO THINK ABOUT HOW TO USE IT FOR TEAM COMMUNICATIONS
Waste, a creative agency, is using Animal
Crossing to recruit
But it hasn’t yet taken off as a remote working
platform – in part because it’s too cute

15. FORTNITE IS MAKING ITS NAME AS A VIRTUAL CONCERT & EVENT HUB
While the main platform is all about battles to be the last one standing, the new “Party Royale” mode lets players
hang out, have fun, and listen to artists perform

16. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN PREMIERED HIS LATEST TRAILER ON PARTY ROYALE AND SCREENED OLD FAVORITES
This meant players could watch films like The Prestige together – even if they were physically apart

18. MINECRAFT WORKED WITH THE UN TO EDUCATE KIDS ON STAYING SAFE IN THE PANDEMIC

19. AND OFFERS FREE EDUCATION

20. IT’S (FROM WHAT WE CAN SEE) THE MOST POPULAR PLATFORM FOR VIRTUAL GRADUATIONS
It started off relatively small for kids...
But has since been adopted by large and
leading institutions

21. MINECRAFT IS ALSO GROWING AS A VIRTUAL CONCERT HUB
In April, American Football headlined
a coronavirus-relief festival in
Minecraft called Nether Meant.
This received >112,00 unique
viewers on the accompanying Twitch
stream and raised over $8,000 for
the charity Good360.

23. THOUGH ROBLOX USE HAS GONE UP IN LOCKDOWN, BRANDS HAVEN’T YET GOTTEN IN ON THE ACTION
Roblox did initiate Covid-19
fundraising...
And empowered their LGBTQ+
community for Pride
But was hacked by Trump
supporters in late June

24. IN SUMMARY

25. ONLINE GAMING PLATFORMS & BRANDS – LOCKDOWN UPDATE
Devices Cost Popularity Brand uses*
Virtual concerts &
events*
Other new uses
Animal
Crossing
Nintendo only £49.99
11m copies of
“New Horizons”
sold in March
2020
- Fashion (Marc Jacobs;
Valentino)
- Virtual recreations of
venues (Sentosa)
- Food activation stunts
(KFC; Deliveroo)
June: Pride 2020
- Online dating
- Parties
- Support groups (e.g.
Alcoholics Anonymous)
- Political canvassing and
protests
- Funerals and memorials
Fortnite
Windows, macOS,
Nintendo Switch,
PlayStation, Xbox,
Android
Free, with
in-game
purchases
78m monthly
players
Wendy’s (2019)
April: Travis Scott
concert
May: Tenet trailer
premiere
Watching parties for films
Minecraft
iOS, Android, Windows,
Xbox One, Nintendo
Switch, Playstation
£24.99
112m monthly
players
UN: educating children
around Covid-19 safety (e.g.
handwashing)
April 2020: Nether
Meant
- Virtual education
- Virtual graduations
(including U.C. Berkeley)
Roblox
Smartphone, tablet, and
Xbox versions
Free, with
in-game
purchases
56m monthly
players
None so far None so far Covid-19 fundraising
* 2020 lockdown activations unless otherwise specified