VISIT XBOX :: THE BIRTH OF GAMING TOURISM
Videogame marketing has typically focused on hero characters, guns and explosions. But gaming has become so much more. The graphics in Xbox games are now almost life-like. Open-world games are vast, and developers increasingly include photo modes. We showed people another way to experience games, not just to play, but to visit.
Case Study
Xbox partnered with Rough Guides to do something they'd never done in their almost 40 year history of publishing travel guides: create a fully-functioning Rough Guide to virtual destinations. Our writers and researchers spent months exploring Xbox's worlds, noting down points of interest in order to make the 'Rough Guide to Xbox' work as a genuine reference book and travel companion, just as a 'Rough Guide to Paris' or a 'Rough Guide to Italy' would. Except the villages to explore, monuments to visit, sights to see and info on money, accommodation and getting around are all in Xbox's richly-detailed games. Each chapter is about a different Xbox game, and gives the reader vital travel advice for that world - from hidden bars to grab a drink in Sea of Thieves, to elusive wildlife to spot in Anthem, to unmissable churches and temples in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
We launched the book at London’s largest travel expo. People could take a tour in a game while listening to an audio travel guide.
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We’ve changed the way people shop for games by packaging them as destinations.
Holiday ads showcasing stunning virtual destinations.
Like real-world touristic destinations, we had in-game tour guides. People joined tour groups or live streamed groups taking in-game tours.
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