42 Entertainment: The Mastermind’s behind Nine Inch Nails’ ARG, Year Zero
42 Entertainment is a media agency that creates immersive entertainment, with a major component being alternate reality games (ARG’s). They make sure to utilize the ways people use technology and the ways communities come together across the web. In collaboration with Trent Reznor, they are also the brilliant mind behind Nine Inch Nail’s ARG, Year Zero.
Year Zero was a project that spanned the twelve months leading up to the release of the Nine Inch Nails album with the same name. The game told the story of a not so distant, bleak future of how the world might be fifteen years from now, and the audience had to piece the story together. Fans had to find fragments of this puzzle anywhere from music, concerts, venues, street art, merchandise, thumbnails, even bathrooms. They followed the clues to piece together the snapshot of what the future meant. All of this hard work paid off with a small, lucky group of fans, unbeknownst to them, participating in yet another piece of the puzzle, getting whisked off in a bus to see a private Nine Inch Nails show at a warehouse in Los Angeles.
The main objective of this project was to bring the album to life. The idea was that if the user was having a great entertainment experience while participating, then they would not be concerned with having to complete the tasks, they simply would just want to get ahead in the story. With the increasing penetration in broadband and mobile technology, more people are willing to interact with their favorite entertainment properties. Also, since Year Zero is considered a concept album, they wanted to look at how they could use technology and media to explode the album into the everyday lives of participants and make them feel like they are part of the album.
When asked what the biggest challenges were of this project, they stated, simply keeping up with all of the opportunities. For all you hard-core Nine Inch Nails fans out there or those hoping to catch a piece of the Year Zero action, the game is yet to be over!
Check out more about what 42 Entertainment is up to or the case study for Year Zero at 42Entertainment.com/YearZero.
