The All England Lawn Tennis Club has partnered with American Express to launch a virtual Race to Wimbledon in Fortnite Creative.
Players in groups of six will run, drive, parkour and fly through the suburbs of Wimbledon, passing local landmarks such as Andy Murray’s golden letterbox and larger-than-life obstacles like giant strawberries and tennis rackets, to make it to Wimbledon’s Centre Court in the fastest time.
The Wimbledon in Fortnite Creative island code is 8443-5461-2402.
To promote the game among fans, two British personalities from the world of gaming, Ali-A and Elz The Witch, will battle it out to see who will be crowned the fastest.
The news comes as Britain’s well-known annual tennis tournament, The Championships, Wimbledon, gets underway, and the Fortnite activity is a way of giving fans a new way to get involved in it.
Race to Wimbledon in Fortnite Creative will be among the first sports brand experiences in Fortnite Creative to use the new Unreal Editor game engine. The engine has an additional feature which allows brands to import custom assets into the game to create a more true-to-life representation of Wimbledon.
The news also comes after British tennis esports player Fozzy won back-to-back Roland-Garros eSeries tournaments. Fozzy is also taking part in the first Olympic Esports Week 2023 which got underway last week.
Race to Wimbledon in Fortnite Creative challenges gamers to beat Andy Murray’s fastest time
As part of the game’s release, Wimbledon’s official payments partner American Express is offering the chance for one lucky player to win a special prize – a pair of VIP tickets, flights and accommodation to the Gentlemen’s Singles Final at The Championships in 2024.
To be in with a chance of winning the competition, players must better the score of Scottish tennis star Andy Murray (4.45 minutes) in the race, and share their high scores on social channels to be entered into a randomly selected prize draw.
Participants can take a picture of their time with Andy Murray and share it on Twitter using #racetowimbledon and #promotion as part of the Wimbledon in Fortnite Creative initiative.
Fans are able to play the Race to Wimbledon in Fortnite Creative in game stations located within the Fan Experience. Full competition details and terms and conditions are available at wimbledon.com/racetowimbledon.
Speaking of Scotland and Fortnite, Edinburgh recently hosted the UK’s first major Fortnite LAN, Red Bull Contested.
“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.”
Chris Clements, All England Club
The All England Club will drive users to the game via a paid media campaign, and video content will be promoted across IGN’s channels throughout the event.
The overall Wimbledon in Fortnite Creative campaign was developed by Doppelgänger, a strategic and creative consultancy building metaverse products, and built by its sister company, The Gang, which last year made WimbleWorld, a user-generated 3D experience on Roblox.
Aaron Burke, VP Global Brands and Sponsorships at American Express, said regarding Wimbledon in Fortnite Creative: “We’re thrilled to be part of Race to Wimbledon to help bring fans an exciting new way to immerse themselves in the Wimbledon experience and get more from the tennis they love.”
Max Proctor, Managing Director at Doppelgänger, commented: “Rich, immersive, 3D experiences are enabling younger fans to engage with some of the world’s most famous sporting events in a completely new way. We are proud to partner with the All England Club and American Express to bring the unrivalled Wimbledon experience to life with a fresh, interactive take on the legendary event for the next generation of tennis fans.”
Chris Clements, Digital Products Lead at the All England Club, stated: “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 the Race to Wimbledon, which we have created with American Express and Doppelgänger, will help us achieve this ambition.”
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
