TerraZero
Bringing Brands into the Intraverse
Duo turns ten
Duolingo is known for bite-sized lessons, game-like streaks and a memeable mascot, Duo the owl. To celebrate Duo’s 10th birthday, the brand set out to master a new language: the metaverse’s. The plan was a multi-platform takeover of Roblox and Decentraland, meeting people where the spirit of play reigns.
A seven-day Game Jam on Roblox
On Roblox, Duolingo dropped a free asset pack and invited every developer to a seven-day, non-competitive Game Jam to build their own Duolingo-inspired games. Developers earned prominent placement on Duolingo’s Roblox hub, and players earned coin multipliers to redeem for a one-of-a-kind Duo avatar. The result was 4M visits to the hub, 23 qualifying games and 3M visits to the Game Jam games.
A two-story Duo in Terra Zero
In Decentraland, a two-story statue of Duo stood in Terra Zero, at the edge of the leisurely Golf Craft, reminding passers-by to keep up their daily streak. The playful, slightly pushy campaign went on to win three Eventex Awards.
How AI was used
This work predates the generative AI tools I use today. Now I would lean on AI to explore asset and environment ideas faster and to draft event copy, while the creative direction and the final experience would still be shaped by hand.