Client: Activision | Creative Partner: Levitation 29
In October 2018, Activision wanted to mark the global launch of Call of Duty®: Black Ops 4 with a one-of-a-kind architectural experience open exclusively to influencers and the media. In a world first, Vantablack VBx2 was used to coat every internal and external wall of a unique gaming space dubbed the Black Ops House. Dan Bunting of Treyarch said; ‘as game makers we’re always in the pursuit of true black’ inside the house practically all natural light was absorbed - creating the world’s darkest room.
The Black Ops House, designed by architect Asif Khan the award-winning London-based design studio, saw gamers first walk a 40 metre-long ‘pier’ creating the sense of walking into a pitch-black void. Sliding doors opened to reveal a PlayStationâ4 Pro and monitor, immersing the player in a unique gameplay experience. Playing in the dark allows you to drown out all the other senses totally immersing you in the game. Commenting on the project, Asif Khan said: “Like many of my generation, I grew up gaming at home, with the living room and TV being the default scenery, but here we had a chance to reimagine the whole sensory experience of gaming. We heighten the player’s perception of space and time, from the moment they step up onto the black walkway, to the door which appears from nowhere, to then being enveloped in an infinite void’. Dan Bunting added that working with Surrey NanoSystems and Levitation 29 on this project was ‘the perfect opportunity for us to partner with someone who can really show off the game in its fullest contrast, vibrancy and colour’.
Special guests including football star Dele Alli and video game influencers were invited over a two-day press event to play Black Ops 4 in the blackest room in the world and to experience the surreal effect of infinite blackness. This one-of-a-kind gaming experience raised the excitement of gameplay to a whole new level - something that will surely stick with them for time to come. Their reactions were captured by a film crew and given to them as assets that they could post on-line.
