Candy Crush All Stars
A divinely delicious finale
Crowning the top Candy Crush Player in the United States, called for a production that pulled out all the stops. After a 7-week online Candy Crush tournament narrowed a field of millions down to the top 10 players, Thinkingbox stepped in to produce a finale broadcast that streamed Crushers from across the country into a live, extended reality (XR) virtual set. Working with King / Activision and lead agency No Problem, we designed, scripted, and executed the 30-minute live YouTube broadcast—packing it with all the polish and prestige of a network game show and all the deliciously irreverent fun of Candy Crush.
The XR stage
Our solution used XR technology with advanced Mo-Sys camera tracking and programmed lighting to immerse our two co-hosts (David Magidoff and Peng-Peng Lee) in a visually realistic stage environment decorated with larger-than-life 3D Candy Crush Candies. The hosts narrated play-by-play as the ten players competed in a bracket-style final, pausing for instant reactions and interviews between rounds. The multi-camera production employed synchronized visual effects that transformed the stage for different segments, along with a full graphics package to handle show elements like transitions, gameplay, scoring, and interviews. Thinkingbox handled multiple project elements, including art and creative direction, script development, set design, gameplay capture, and tech implementation to bring the show to life.
Outcome
Bringing ten players from across the country together seamlessly with two hosts in a live Candy Crush tournament experience was a feat unto itself, but doing it all on a custom-designed virtual stage with the slickness of a broadcast TV show was double the challenge. We're immensely proud of the team for pulling this off in style and pleased that the show has garnered over 1.1 million views on YouTube.
Credits
- King
- Absolute Live Productions
- No Problem Agency