Premier League champions Manchester City have launched a new gaming experience called ‘The Ladder’ on Fortnite. To celebrate, the club is releasing content across its channels during the men’s first team pre-season tour in the US, with activations planned around City’s first fixture against Celtic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Designed with support from Karta, City’s creative map will see players strive to climb the ranks in one-v-one matches, with their positions changing based on performances. Winners ascend the ladder to a higher arena, while losers drop to the lower arena. A champion is crowned by being the winner of the final round in arena one.
Inspired by Manchester City’s ‘glyphs’, a series of symbols which represent recognisable icons within the City brand, gamers will immerse themselves in a City world with 11 themed arenas such as ‘blue moon’ level, inspired by the famous City anthem, and the ‘bee’ level, taking inspiration from the iconic Manchester worker-bee.
The Fortnite creative map is the latest development in the Club’s gaming and esports strategy. Efforts to engage both football and esports audiences has seen City create bespoke experiences and engagement opportunities such as co-branded collaborations, the implementation of professional esports teams and dedicated esports content channels. Nuria Tarre, chief marketing and fan experience officer at City Football Group, commented: “The opportunity to build this world in Fortnite presented a fantastic way to increase our presence across the competitive gaming space. It is a great new addition to our off-pitch fan engagement activations.”
