To celebrate the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft and
AMD launched The Vanishing Point, a global cross-media
puzzle game to reward their most enthusiastic, tech savvy
consumers. The game spanned four weeks as players
from around the globe worked together to decipher
embedded clues in real world events and solve puzzles
online to win a trip to the ultimate vista, outer space.

Engage the hardcore super enthusiasts (SEs) who were
already familiar with Windows Vista, in a hip, mysterious,
and smart way that would cultivate positive brand awareness
and loyalty. Get these SEs to work together to discover the
nature and specifics of the sweepstakes, and ultimately the
identity of the puzzlemaster, Loki, who’s job was “to give
away extraordinary prizes to exceptional people”.

Spectacular real world events transmitted secret messages
that were captured in photographs or video before they
reached “the vanishing point”. These real world clues were
then used to help players solve online puzzles that were
simultaneously unlocked on the Vanishing Point website.
These events took place in 12 major cities around the US,
Australia, Canada, England, Germany, and Singapore.

The game launched mysteriously, with a stealth campaign
utilizing Japanese puzzle boxes, USB drives, AMD comput-
ers and videos on YouTube. This led bloggers and players
to The Vanishing Point website with a countdown to the
game’s launch, pointing to a specific GPS location in Las
Vegas, Nevada. Over 200 players arrived at the appointed
place during CES to see a Bellagio fountain show suddenly
“hacked” by a mysterious puzzle-master, Loki. Her image
floated on a 6-story high wall of water as she explained the
challenge to the world and presented the first time-based
puzzles clues.

In the following weeks, more puzzle boxes were unlocked,
and players found cryptic clues written in the skies in
Sydney, Miami, Los Angeles, and Phoenix; projected through
high resolution transformations of world landmarks like
London’s National Gallery, Singapore’s Victoria Theater,
Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, San Francisco’s Palace of Fine
Arts and Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame; and coded in a
unique fireworks spectacular on Seattle’s Lake Union.

Throughout the puzzle sweepstakes, players could also
search for information about the identity of Loki herself, to
earn the privilege of having their name inscribed on an
entire production run of AMD computer chips.

Online communities of players developed who worked
together to solve the puzzles. They created resources such
as forums, photo/video archives, online hints and even
web-radio stations that broadcast in real-time during the live
events. This created an enormous global media and
consumer buzz surrounding the game.

The Vanishing Point was the first global puzzle game of its
kind ever created, coordinating spectacular live events
around the world with challenging online puzzles. Over a
million people were drawn to the website, and nearly
100,000 people registered and actively played.


vanishingpointgame.com