In 2021, with 72,843 fires from early January to mid-August, Brazil already recorded an increase of 83% compared to last year, according to Inpe (National Institute for Space Research). One of the worst devastation scenarios in history.

One year before this period, Mastercard joined the Priceless Planet Coalition (CPP) which unites the efforts of merchants, banks, cities and consumers to fight climate change by restoring 100 million trees in five years.

As a global and local sponsor of The League of Legends, Mastercard Brazil decided to raise public awareness inviting the young LoL community to listen, learn, and act, contributing to restoring some of the world's most endangered forests while participating in something that could strengthen the bonds between them.

To raise public awareness against deforestation, players from 'League of Legends' played a memorable match on Amazon Day: The Play for the Jungle. We reunited influencers and pro-players to face a challenge from the real world on the traditional LoL map. For the first time, fans who watched the event saw the Jungle on fire, and the players were challenged to think of new strategies to advance in the game.

The Jungle is a critical point within the game - it is in the Jungle that players turn to get items, heal, and evolve. So blocking players from using it as part of their strategy is a genuine way to provoke reflection on what we're seeing happening to the environment.

The Play for the Jungle action was broadcasted live on the CBLOL Championship channels on YouTube, Twitch, and NimoTV after the finals of the Brazilian LoL Championship.

The strategy was to use the high potential of connection bonds between the LoL community to raise awareness and mobilize young people against deforestation in Brazil. The LoL map is some kind of a sacred world well known by anyone who plays the game, especially for those pro players who know all the shortcuts inside the Jungle to obtain from it essential resources to thrive in the competition.

From the moment we put fire on the jungle - despite the viral impact caused by the vision of it on fire and inaccessible - we could open the discussion during the live broadcast and on its breaks about our relationship with the forests, what we get from it, and how essential it is for our lives.

The PFTJ activation took more than a year to happen due to Riot Games' negotiation process and permissions. The LoL map is known to millions of players worldwide and is the main asset of the world's biggest esports platform.

As our intention wasn't to modify the game for everyone (which would require rewriting its lines of code) but to create buzz due to the visual impact of it on fire during an official broadcasting, we got the GO-on.

The players knew that they would have to face something different that time but the narrator introduced the challenge during the match: the Jungle was on fire, and everything inside it wasn't available. The match images received the CG treatment where the flames were applied over the trees, separating the lanes from the resources before being broadcasted.

To raise awareness to the Priceless Planet Coalition commitment was the main goal of Play for the Jungle. We wanted to catalyze LOL’s community bonds towards the “inconvenient truth” of the forest and jungle fires, especially in Amazon.

Play for the Jungle reached 10.000 users simultaneously on YouTube and Twitch. There were 1923 interactions in total.

The initiative had 65% of positive mentions.

League of Legends players suggested that the “no jungle” option could be available in the game as it dramatically increases difficulty and pushes players to a whole different set of strategies in gameplay.