As if you didn’t know already, Ready Player One is due for release at the end of the month and companies have been falling over each other to get in on its promotion. The latest comes from user-generated, online entertainment platform Roblox, with a movie competition tie-in.
Due to go live later today, the Roblox: Ready Player One Adventure is a parallel adventure to the movie for Roblox players to enjoy, taking participants across the virtual universe within the platform. Just like the film, this endeavour is powered by clues, with Roblox providing a series of clues that will guide participants on a search for hidden keys that unlock hidden gates. As players unlock these gates, leaders will be tracked on a Ready Player One leaderboard within Roblox. The final winner, who manages to find all the keys and unlocks the final gate, will win the coveted “Dominus,” a highly-prized, rare virtual item on the Roblox platform.
“Bringing elements of this movie to life in our virtual universe has been exciting,” said David Baszucki, founder and CEO of Roblox in a a statement. “I am a huge fan of Ready Player One and Ernest Cline’s book paints the most accurate and vivid portrayal of the metaverse we’ve built here at Roblox. I’m excited to explore these parallels during my on-stage interview with him today at SXSW.”
Baszucki will interview Ernest Cline during a special Ready Player One session at the SXSW Interactive show starting at 12:30pm CDT today, Monday, 12th March, 2018. Highlights from that interview will also be aired as part of an exclusive, Roblox-hosted Silicon Valley screening of the movie on 27th March, 2018 at the Dolby Cinema at 1275 Market in downtown San Francisco, California.
The first clue goes live at approximately 10:00 am PDT today (6pm GMT), and is open to anyone who has a Roblox account. When live, specific details can be found at www.roblox.com/readyplayerone.
Last week saw HTC Vive announce several Ready Player One tie-ins, with eight experiences due for release in March ahead of the film premiere. All of which will all be made available on Viveport and Steam for free. For any further Ready Player One announcements, keep reading VRFocus.