Entertainment > Talent

WESTWORLD: THE MAZE

360I, New York / HBO / 2019

Awards:

Shortlisted Cannes Lions
CampaignCampaign(opens in a new tab)
MP3 Original Language
Demo Film
Supporting Images

Overview

Credits

Overview

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

To extend HBO's legacy of innovative storytelling around hit show Westworld, we turned to medium that combines the oldest form of storytelling with the newest technology: Voice.

HBO turned Westworld into The Maze, an Amazon Alexa Voice game that creates an immersive experience not replicated in any other Voice skill on the market. The technology provided an opportunity for truly unique brand engagement, allowing fans to not just experience, but engage with the talent and storylines from the show.

Background

To build excitement and buzz around Westworld's Season 2 finale among the show’s most devoted fans, HBO set out to extend the show’s world, bringing it to life for fans to inhabit, much like the characters they follow each week.

Westworld tells the story of a Western-themed amusement park inhabited by lifelike robot "hosts." People in the story come from far and wide - and pay top dollar - to experience a world where every human appetite can be indulged.

As the second season came to a close, and the hosts become self-aware, the adventures within the park take a darker turn.

Describe the creative idea

The Maze brings the show's layered story mapping to the voice platform, where users are led on a quest for consciousness in an immersive game that allows fans to navigate the show's world as if they were actually characters within it.

We took inspiration from the show, which establishes memory, improvisation and self-interest as the levels of intelligence to inform an experience that blends gaming and storytelling, to give fans a way to interact with the places and people in the world they've grown to love.

Describe the strategy

The show has built up a rabid base of fans who delight in the show's mysterious twists and turns. The most devoted fans spend hours theorizing about hidden meanings and symbols, always looking for a way to get deeper into the show's intricate storyline.

For such an avid group of fans to buy in, The Maze needed to deliver on the authentic storytelling and high-quality production fans expect from Westworld, with show talent and narratives.

Describe the execution

Westworld: The Maze is a voice game on Amazon Alexa-enabled devices that allows fans to navigate the show's world right from their couches. The skill is truly immersive - breaking boundaries as Westworld fans would expect.

Users play as an unnamed Westworld host, guided through ""choose-your-own-adventure"" style gameplay by the voices of beloved show talent like Bernard/Arnold (Jeffrey Wright) and Clementine (Angela Sarafyan).

The final product presents fans with over two hours of unique gameplay spanning 11,000 lines of script, each with custom-built sound design leveraged directly from the show's original audio library for maximum authenticity. Fans play through over 60 different storylines and 400 potential choices.

Describe the outcome

In a first-of-its-kind feat, HBO brought its unique brand of storytelling and dedication to craft to a platform that relies entirely on audio - and its fans' imaginations.

On average, fans who played The Maze have engaged with the brand for 14 minutes. The Maze earned a 4.4/5 star review from users in the Amazon App Store.

Within days of the game being released, Westworld: The Maze garnered 1.2 million press impressions. Since launch, the game has earned more than 15 accolades including Clio Awards, ANDY Awards and London International Awards, among others. Amazon recently mentioned Westworld: The Maze on its Earnings Report call, citing it as an exemplary Entertainment skill created for Amazon Alexa.

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