Tennis made the running when computer games were young. The earliest, most basic screen challenge invented, Tennis for Two, capitalised on the sport’s popularity.
Now in an attempt to call game, set and match once again, Wimbledon’s All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) is venturing on to the virtual court. The London club is launching a volley of new games to ensure the younger generation stays aware of the tournament and its competitive challenge.
Served at pace for the first time this Wimbledon is an online, branded Fortnite race game, featuring Andy Murray. Also new is an upgraded WimbleWorld Roblox experience, introduced for younger players, and a tennis app called Wimbledon Smash. A collaboration with Tennis Clash, a leading mobile game, has also been unveiled.
“It’s important to have a strong presence in gaming,” said Chris Clements, who runs the club’s digital product arm. “We wanted to involve some of our core elements, like the grass and the strawberries and cream, as well as, ultimately, the tennis itself.”
“We’ve always said Wimbledon transcends the sport, but we needed to evolve ways to engage with new people,” he added. “There’s a huge heritage beyond simply enjoying the sport, encompassing people who don’t really enjoy the sport, or even any other sport.”
Players of Race to Wimbledon, the new Fortnite title, will speed to Centre Court on foot, by road and air, while the Roblox platform offers younger gamers the chance to mow the grass and paint the baseline in WimbleWorld. Revenue will be invested in youth tennis.
With the Fortnite game, players start out in the lobby alongside a virtual Murray, and then go out into the suburb, through parks into the city, via the golden postbox that marks Murray’s Olympic triumph, passing well-known landmarks such as Big Ben and the London Eye, through Wimbledon village and around larger-than-life obstacles such as giant strawberries and tennis rackets.
“Tennis lends itself to gaming. We saw that from early on,” said Clements, speaking just as Murray lost on Friday evening. “But the way people enjoy gaming has changed dramatically, so we called in specialists.”
If video gaming does not lead teenagers straight to the local tennis court, the AELTC hopes it may develop new fans of the championship. Live broadcast audiences for the tournament remained high, despite an increase in media platforms, said Clements.
“If Wimbledon is not always watched on terrestrial TV any more, then it is watched on a phone. And if a parent is watching on TV, there might be a child in the same room who is watching while playing WimbleWorld on Roblox. And, upstairs, we hope an 18-year-old might be playing Race to Wimbledon on Fortnite.”
The changes to the Roblox game, including the chance to tend the grass or to earn a virtual hawk who will sit on the shoulder of a player’s avatar across the platform, were introduced just before the tournament began.
Wimbledon Smash, the app, now also offers a rebranded tennis experience app, allowing players to “serve” a tennis ball, with weather, inevitably, affecting the match.
The Wimbledon brand is also reaching young people via fashion. Born aloft by the boom in sporty looks, dubbed tenniscore, this May the club launched its first “semi-formal” capsule wardrobe of outfits, sold exclusively online. It was a deft move to build on a wider general trend for short pleated skirts, long white shorts and vintage sports brands such as Slazenger and Dunlop.
While video games have taken the AELTC a long way from the croquet and high teas of its foundation year of 1868, some of the traditional tennis kit being worn on catwalks this summer might have been acceptable 100 years ago at least.
