UEFA makes its metaverse debut with Hat trick Heroes campaign on Roblox

With less than 100 days to go until UEFA Women’s EURO kicks off at Old Trafford, UEFA has unveiled the tournament’s first Hat Trick heroes – a trio of mascots who are making their debut in the metaverse.

Kai, Robyn and Ashley appear as interactive characters in ‘The Road to UEFA Women’s EURO’ game on Roblox and star in a skills challenge and edutainment series on YouTube alongside Europe’s top players, which will also be distributed via the UEFA Football in Schools programme. The game was created by metaverse game studio, Dubit.

The campaign aims to appeal directly and authentically to young girls and boys on platforms they consume daily. UEFA is joining other global companies, including Nike and Nickelodeon, in hosting the game on Roblox, a platform that has over 50m daily active users, of which over 50 per cent are children under-12.

In the game, players can dress their avatar in their favourite participating team’s colours and train with Kai, Robyn and Ashley to earn their game powers before taking on a series of Obbys (obstacle courses.) Playing against the clock, players must complete each obstacle course as quickly as possible by scoring goals and collecting golden tournament tickets along the way, with encouragement at each checkpoint from the mascots. A stadium Obby will be unlocked in June.

The virtual game is complemented by a skills challenge and educational video series on YouTube where Hat Trick, the collective term for the mascots, will bring their unique personalities of skill (Robyn, number 10); strength (Ashley, Hat Trick captain and number 7) and smarts (Kai, number 4) together. The series features 12 of European football’s biggest names including current UEFA Women’s Player of the Year Alexia Putellas (Barcelona FC and Spain); 2017 UEFA Women’s EURO winner Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal FC and the Netherlands); and UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 host Lucy Bronze (Manchester City FC and England). 

Aiming to inspire children between eight and 11 to both play and engage in football, the mascots call on the help of international players to help them ‘level up’ their skills; understand better the key skills needed to play goalkeeper, defender, midfielder or forward; and teach them more about how to best fuel their body and to have a good mindset for football and life. 

The video series can be viewed by children, parents and teachers on YouTube, and will also be shared with schools across Europe through the UEFA’s Football in Schools programme.

“The UEFA Women’s EURO promises to be a record-breaking tournament,” said UEFA Marketing Director, Guy-Laurent Epstein. “It has the potential to inspire millions of girls and boys to play football, so it is important for us to take the tournament to the platforms and spaces they occupy. We hope our new gaming experience will capture the imagination of children and get them to interact with football and UEFA Women’s EURO in a way that we have never explored before.”

 More information on how to play the Roblox game can be found here, and the YouTube skills series is available to view here.