NZ's Creative Capital, Wellington, Becomes World's First Gamified City

New Zealand’s innovative capital, Wellington, home to a booming tech and screen industry has transformed itself into what is believed to be the world’s first gamified virtual city.

Release time : 2019-01-31 11:30:24

source : Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency

New Zealand’s innovative capital, Wellington, home to a booming tech and screen industry has transformed itself into what is believed to be the world’s first gamified virtual city.

Ms Calver says some of the capital’s talent - lead by local production companies Wrestler and Mixt - was behind the creation of the Virtual Wellington experience.

Virtual Wellington allows people to explore and interact with the city without boarding a plane. It includes an interactive game, WellTown, available for free download in the Steam and Oculus VR stores, and a number of 360 video tours around Wellington attractions, education institutions and workplaces.

WellTown gives VR users a fun, gamified tour around Wellington, a small and compact city surrounded by hills and harbour, famous for its cafes, art and culture, tech scene and movie industry that’s produced the likes of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, Avatar and Mortal Engines.

Made up of six short virtual experiences, players can shoot coffee at caffeine-deprived zombies as they finish their morning commute, take an underwater dive in Wellington’s pristine harbour as a curious whale swims by, listen to the dawn chorus of birdsong in the native bush that surrounds the city, busk with a local band on Wellington’s coolest street, stand beneath a starlit sky during Matariki (Maori New Year) and help people take a leap off a diving platform on Wellington’s vibrant waterfront.

After completing each experience, players receive a physical adornment which transforms them (or at least the avatar they’ve chosen) into their best, most creative self.

For those wanting to take a closer look at what Wellington has to offer, Explore More provides the opportunity to immerse themselves in some of Wellington’s most iconic experiences via 360 video - from an All Blacks rugby test match at Westpac Stadium and the office of Wellington-based global online accountancy