Hockeyland • A Innovative Challenge to Spark Hockey Fandom

To celebrate the 2022 NHL season play-off, we partnered with Sportsnet to launch Hockeyland: an immersive, hockey-themed adventure map available on the Mineraft Marketplace. Conceived by our in-house creative team, Hockeyland aims to inspire hockey fandom among a new, younger generation by bringing the sport to their “home ice”: one of the best-selling video games of all time. Combining best-in-class game design and metaverse strategy with executional expertise from Blockworks UK, one of a select few content creators certified by Microsoft to produce and distribute content on the Minecraft Marketplace, we helped Sportsnet deliver an accessible Minecraft experience that allows anyone to discover the sport in a fun and familiar way.

It’s not a true Minecraft experience without mining for precious resources to power-up your character and shape your environment. We built Hockeyland around a handful of familiar gamified elements designed to help players hone their skills and ice out the competition in their quest to be the best. Players can craft hockey equipment like helmets, stick upgrades, shoulder pads and more to strengthen their abilities, then put them to the test in a series of challenges against enemy Grinders (that’s hockey lingo for players who pressure opponents through physical force). From target practice in the Hockey Stick Forest to racing down the Ice Track Course, players can see if they have what it takes to achieve the game-winning goal: scaling the frigid heights of Playoff Peak to stand the literal top of the world.

When it comes to inspiring the next generation of fans, Sportsnet knows where the puck is headed: today’s audiences crave interactive environments where they can play and connect. Hockeyland is a first-of-its kind experience that signifies the broadcaster’s new approach to reaching Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences in immersive ways. In addition to meeting younger generations where they already are, we amplified the experiential marketing engagement with a 360-degree campaign spanning Sportsnet social channels, a Twitch paid media buy and organic outreach with Minecraft-focused content creators. Altogether, the metaverse strategy helped bring a beloved sport to life in a new medium—where Sportsnet can continue to grow and build for years to come.