AT&T partnered with lifestyle and gaming brand 100 Thieves to create a unique virtual reality experience called the “AT&T Station” within the social VR platform VRChat as part of a metaverse campaign program. This immersive, multiplayer Metaverse experience takes place in a spaceship-like environment and is designed for social interaction.
Immersive Multiplayer Desktop and VR Experience
The metaverse experience offers various features, including an HBO Max movie theater, multiplayer games like trivia and billiards, and a virtual clothing store where users can shop for 100 Thieves merchandise. It is accessible via a VR headset with hand controllers or a desktop computer.
Fully immersive metaverse space to explore in VR and on desktop. This initiative marks another step for brands exploring the metaverse—an interconnected virtual world where users, represented by avatars, can interact—as consumer interest in these remote, immersive experiences continues to grow.
Groove Jones helped create the AT&T Station, a sleek, two-level space with views of outer space through its windows. The environment is filled with AT&T branding, references to 100 Thieves’ in-jokes, and social gathering spots like an animated hot tub and a fire pit featuring AT&T’s signature blue flames. There are also mini-games, including a trivia contest and a billiards table.
AT&T’s collaboration with the prominent esports organization 100 Thieves brings the AT&T Station to life as the telecom company’s first venture into the metaverse and 100 Thieves’ first digital representation of its popular apparel.
AT&T’s AT&T Station, with creative input from 100 Thieves, was part of the program to promote their support of gaming. The program highlighted virtual rooms surrounded by water and a starry outer space backdrop. Users can explore the two levels, socialize around virtual hot tubs and campfires, or enjoy a movie screening featuring WarnerMedia titles like “Dune” and “The Suicide Squad.”
The space focuses on the team’s streetwear-inspired, meme-fueled culture. It includes virtual recreations of 100 Thieves apparel, a trivia game, and a room where users can rank pizza toppings. The 100 Thieves partnerships team worked closely with their internal brand, marketing, content, and apparel teams to ensure that the virtual displays matched the brand’s standards.
For 100 Thieves, this activation provides a unique opportunity to showcase and sell their apparel in a virtual space. Streetwear “drops” have been a key part of 100 Thieves’ strategy, with limited-edition items often selling out quickly.
Custom Avatars
Groove Jones used Unreal Engine to create realistic virtual versions of the 100 Thieves Foundations apparel line. Each apparel item in the AT&T Station has clickable links that direct users to the 100 Thieves website to make purchases. The virtual garments and e-commerce opportunities within the AT&T Station could be the first step toward a future where streetwear drops occur entirely in the virtual space. As the line between physical and digital life blurs, more brand partnerships may follow AT&T Station’s innovative approach.
We also created 100 Thieves avatars that the actual team members used to explore the space as a virtual version of themselves.
The virtual space, like the AT&T Station, was a natural progression for the telecom company, which sees its technology, especially 5G and fiber, as highly compatible with gaming experiences. The primary goal of involving 100 Thieves was to reach a younger demographic, as approximately 75% of VRChat users are aged 18 to 34—the core audience for 100 Thieves. The AT&T Station represents a unique and immersive activation, but its potential for the future is perhaps even more exciting. While the virtual space will remain accessible in VRChat, its true metaverse potential lies in its persistence—a digital space that could exist indefinitely as part of a fully accessible virtual world.
Behind the Scenes
The Groove Jones team created a virtual village to record and capture the 100 Thieves team as they explored the station. This enabled our team to work with virtual cameras and follow the team within the space. The result appears in the video that AT&T produced after the event.
About the Campaign
Verdict.co Article – https://www.groovejones.com/telecom-carriers-are-getting-real-in-virtual-worlds
Digiday Article – https://www.groovejones.com/digiday-att-and-100-thieves