NHL, Roblox Team Up for Hockey Metaverse

The new platform comes after NIKELAND's launch and a rise in serious gaming technologies

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NHL Roblox Big Greens
Mixed RealityNews Analysis

Published: April 27, 2023

Demond Cureton

National Hockey League (NHL) fans have received a virtual treat after the organisation launched its Roblox online gaming metaverse, ESPN reported on Thursday.

NHL Blast is a new hockey-themed metaverse game where users can create bespoke team jerseys, socialise, and compete in the Metaverse.

Powered by Roblox and metaverse development studio The Gang, NHL Blast aims to boost engagement in the virtual world. It aims to also release interoperably across computers and mobiles.

The platform will also leverage solutions from Beyond Sports, which showcases real-time, synchronised tracking for live sporting events.

The company’s PPT data and skeletal tracking technology tools will integrate on the platform, providing lifelike, accurate visualisations in the virtual world. Real-life players can mirror their activities play-by-play and in real time to capture stellar highlights for hockey matches.

The announcement comes after Japanese tech giant Sony acquired Beyond Sports to leverage its real-time 3D (RT3D) animation technologies. The company also uses metaverse infrastructure from Hawk-Eye Innovations, leading to partnerships between Beyond Sports and the National Football League (NFL).

Play-by-Play for Roblox’s Latest Collaboration

Regarding custom wearables, it will display people’s names on their virtual jerseys as they compete in “fantastical, obstacle-filled environments” for prizes and leaderboards.

Roblox’s NHL metaverse will include individual usernames, custom numbers, and bespoke goalie masks.

The immersive environments will also feature a virtual space inspired by an NHL street hockey initiative. All levels will include realistic skating and shooting physics similar to those at real-world hockey games and star players.

Attendees can also use the platform’s Upper Deck Selfie Station to take photos of their digital avatars. Many people can pose their digital doubles before taking snaps of their victories and defeats.

Games will also synchronise NHL Blast events such as the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals. The company has leveraged the NHL’s EDGE puck and player-tracking technologies to achieve this.

According to the report, these were previously used at the Disney XD Big City Greens Game for the current season. The experience provided audiences with animated simulcasts of a March match between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers.

Comments on NHL-Roblox Partnership

David Lehanski, NHL Executive Vice President of Business Development and Innovation, said in a statement that NHL Blast would allow hockey fans and Roblox users to “hang out and play in a new online space that features many elements of NHL fandom.”

He continued,

“We’ve been talking about Roblox, with consultants, developers, and Roblox itself, for a long period of time just to try and learn as much as we can. About a year and a half ago, we really started working on how we could use this technology to validate the data were getting [from the PPT system]”

He concluded it had become clear that “there was significant potential for visual experiences.”

Marcus Holmstrom, The Gang Chief Executive, added,

“We appreciate the NHL’s focus and boldness on embracing fun, innovative gameplay and rewarding users with great customization options that make them feel like pro players”

Tian Pei, Head of Sports Partnerships, Roblox, stated the NHL had “been a fantastic partner to work with.”

She added

“They’ve been so innovative, right off the bat, and they are already aligned with our own objectives. This is only the beginning and we’re going to continue to iterate and build a long-term strategy to reach digitally-native users.”

The news comes after NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman aimed to increase the organisation’s engagement via its youth advisory board, NHL Power Players.

Lehanski added he wanted to “reach kids and young teens” and people who “haven’t really experienced the NHL to experience it in a completely different way and become comfortable and familiar with elements of our game.”

“Let’s see where it goes,” he concluded.

New Partnerships: Roblox-NIKELAND and Roblox-Meta Platforms

The news comes after Roblox struck a deal to develop NIKE’s NIKELAND metaverse. Announced in November 2021, the free immersive space aims to offer sports fans a number of product debuts and collaborative spaces.

Attendees can play miniature games with others such as tag, dodgeball, and a classic children’s game, ‘The Floor is Lava.’

Developers can also leverage the Roblox toolkit to build their own minigames for boosting competition and building an ecosystem of independent NIKELAND experiences.

NIKELAND is an interoperable platform which works across smartphones, tablets, and other devices. Roblox also planned to open its world-building platform on Meta’s Quest 2, Quest Pro, and Quest 3 headsets.

According to Roblox executives, the collaboration “[made] perfect sense” and would allow world-building enthusiasts to leverage the technology for fully spatial, immersive virtual worlds.

Physics solutions have surged in demand in the sports industry. Firms such as Playin Games rely on technologies to create realistic gaming physics for players, leading to increased engagement in virtual sports matches.

 

 

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