Digital Craft > Form

PLAY HAS NO LIMITS FEAT. KING GNU

SIX, Tokyo / PLAYSTATION / 2024

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Overview

Credits

Overview

Background:

With its PlayStation®️5 launch in 2020, PlayStation introduced its first global tagline, “Play Has No Limits.” The tagline sums up PlayStation’s DNA of pushing the boundaries of play and expanding the universe of diverse games to the next-level. Our mission was to familiarize the Japanese market with the tagline and its spirit to enhance brand engagement.

Please provide any cultural context that would help the jury understand any cultural, national or regional nuances applicable to this work e.g. local legislation, cultural norms, a national holiday or religious festival that may have a particular meaning.

PlayStation has evolved as a platform with a chaotic universe of diverse games spanning genres from fantasy, action, science fiction, horror, sports, casual, to indie. These distinct creativity have inspired each other and crossed over, expanding the boundaries to the next-level universe of gaming experiences. Particularly in Japan, where both PlayStation and Nintendo SWITCH dominate the console gaming market, while Xbox holds a 4% share, the diversity of PlayStation is a distinguishing feature.

How can we celebrate and create resonance with the chaotic universe of diverse game creativity that pushes the boundaries, establishing it as PlayStation's authentic identity? Typical promotions like montages of in-game visuals from various game titles lack freshness for our core fans and fail to capture the casual-gamers and non-gamers. That’s why we decided to enter into a music partnership to tell the spirit of the PlayStation universe.

Describe the creative idea

We partnered with a Japanese rock band sharing an affinity with the PlayStation’s spirit.

King Gnu, a four-piece rock band, stands among Japan's hottest musicians with over 3.2 million Spotify subscribers. Their style, known as 'Tokyo Chaotic' or 'Tokyo New Mixture Style,' is chaotically orchestrated with the four's diverse musical styles and outstanding performance skills, drawing inspiration from various genres, including rock, classical, R&B, and jazz. This innovative fusion has been pushing the boundaries of the Japanese music scene.

To coincide with the release of their new album, we unveiled a branded campaign featuring King Gnu and their song “Asura'' written for PlayStation. Our hero film follows four '△〇×□' characters portrayed by King Gnu, breaking their limits and chaotically fusing into the "Giant Gnu" at the next level. This symbolizes the shared spirit between PlayStation and King Gnu, where diverse forms of play converge to transcend conventional norms and boundaries.

Describe the execution

In an apocalyptic wasteland, much like the final dungeon, four avatars, each adorned with PlayStation's iconic symbols '△〇×□,' step foot into the world of the game.

A dark knight with a third eye awakened. An otherworldly being wielding dual pistols. A steampunk machinist with robotic arms. And a martial artist possessing superhuman strength. They symbolize the PlayStation universe crossing over diverse gaming genres.

Standing before them is the colossal demon 'Dark Gnu.' They are now ready for the boss battle. Suddenly, Dark Gnu launches massive boulders in a preemptive attack. The four are scattered... is it already game over?

They begin to expand drastically, as if pushing their own boundaries. Their outer shells shatter, revealing intricate mechanical mechanisms within. Machinery parts chaotically combine one after another, forming a colossal fusion robot.

The four members of 'King Gnu' have broken their limits and chaotically fused into the 'Giant Gnu.'

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