“The Team USA Ultimate Obby” experience on Roblox offers first-ever opportunity to watch Olympic and Paralympic Games highlights and engage with Team USA athlete characters on an online immersive platform
July 22, 2024
Colorado Springs, Colo.— With Team USA athletes ready to compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 and fans ready to celebrate them in new and exciting ways, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and NBCUniversal today invite sports fans and supporters of Team USA to join together in an immersive world on Roblox – with first-ever custom experiences built just for them.
Featuring 20 athletes, video highlights of competitions, and special digital items with athletes sharing in on their sales’ proceeds, the experience, titled “The Team USA Ultimate Obby” in honor of its obstacle course main attraction, is a first-ever opportunity for Olympic and Paralympic fans to come together and feel part of this global celebration of sports and camaraderie.
“As a big fan of Roblox, I think it’s really cool to see Team USA on this platform,” said Minna Stess, Olympic Games Paris 2024 Team USA skateboarding athlete. “I’ve been playing on Roblox for years but never thought I would one day see my own avatar in an experience along with so many other Olympic and Paralympic athletes, so that is also exciting.”
The experience, which goes live on Roblox today, before the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 takes place on July 26, can be accessed at the following link: TeamUSA.com/Roblox or NBCOlympics.com/Roblox. The Roblox community and Team USA fans will find endless ways to engage with Team USA before, during and after the Games, highlighted by:
· Team USA Ultimate Obby – The main attraction of the experience is Game Mountain, a vertical Obby designed for casual gameplay and maximum replay-ability and features multiple distinct sports-themed areas, each progressively more challenging.
· Peacock Fan Zone – The Peacock Fan Zone is the place for fans to catch the latest Olympic and Paralympic highlights at the Xfinity Watch Party, where they can grab a seat on the Xfinity couch and engage with others as the replays unfold. Additionally, Mike Tirico, primetime host for NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Olympic Games, will welcome users to a first-of-its-kind activity where visitors go on-air with their own NBC Olympics or Paralympics broadcast, taking on various roles including commentator, camera operator, lighting and FX and more.
· Team USA House – In real life, Team USA House will be located in the historic Palais Brongniart in Paris during the Games this summer. In Roblox, however, Team USA House is a “Vibe House” where fans can meet athletes, play casual games inspired by additional sports, and hang out with friends. Ralph Lauren, an Official Outfitter of Team USA, has a dedicated floor within the space showcasing an immersive brand experience and the official Ralph Lauren Team USA Collection alongside dynamic video components and an interactive selfie station with Ralph Lauren-sponsored athletes, Kamren Larsen and Chiaka Ogbogu.
· Team USA Athletes – The following 20 Team USA athletes, all of whom collaborated with the USOPC on the character design process, will be featured in the experience as NPCs (non-playable characters):
Alise Willoughby | BMX Racing |
Ashleigh Johnson | Water Polo |
Brian Bell | Wheelchair Basketball |
Carissa Moore | Surf |
Chiaka Ogbogu | Volleyball |
CJ Nickolas | Taekwondo |
Evy Leibfarth | Canoe / Kayak |
Ezra Frech | Paralympic Track and Field |
Jagger Eaton | Skateboard |
Jamal Hill | Paralympic Swimming |
Jesse Grupper | Climbing |
Kamren Larsen | Cycling |
Kayla DiCello | Gymnastics |
Minna Stess | Skateboarding |
Nick Mayhugh | Paralympic Track and Field |
Shilese Jones | Gymnastics |
Sunny Choi | Breaking |
Tara Davis-Woodhall | Track and Field |
Tatyana McFadden | Paralympic Track and Field |
Victor Montalvo | Breaking |
· Breaking Emotes - Two of the athletes, Sunny Choi and Victor Montalvo, both representing Breaking, which will make its debut at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, have served as the inspiration for a first-of-its-kind set of Emotes - a popular kind of digital item that Roblox users acquire and equip their avatars with.
In total, there will be five Breaking Emotes based on Choi and Montalvo’s favorite moves available during the Games, making them the first official athlete Emotes on Roblox. Fans can buy one Emote in the Roblox Marketplace, with a portion of proceeds going directly to the two athletes, to use across Roblox. The other four will be available for free within the Team USA experience and can be used exclusively within that environment.
· Team USA Museum – Another engaging, activity-driven area in the experience is the Team USA Museum. Yes, it contains incredible Team USA artifacts, but to Roblox-ify the museum, it’s been converted into an epic scavenger hunt in which all of the items are hidden across the experience, and Team USA needs the help of Roblox and Team USA fans to find them again.
· Team USA Shop – You can’t have a Team USA experience on Roblox without some awesome Team USA gear. Ralph Lauren, an Official Outfitter of Team USA, is bringing the official Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony looks as well as a Women’s Villagewear look to Roblox in digital form for the first-time ever and are now available for purchase in the POLO Ralph Lauren section of the Team USA Shop.
· Central Plaza - Located in the heart of the experience, players will find an information hub for all things Team USA, as well as the Ultimate Obby. This includes medal counts, a schedule of events, leaderboards for player performance on the Obby and more. The Central Plaza keeps everything housed in one area so players know where to go for the latest.
· Countdown to the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony in the Central Plaza - The Team USA experience opens up to U.S. players today, July 22, for exploration, gameplay and shopping, and the Central Plaza will be counting down the four days until the opening ceremony on July 26. Ralph Lauren, as the Official Outfitter for Team USA Opening Ceremony for nearly two decades, will celebrate with a walking museum of past outfits.
“We are very excited to extend, in partnership with the USOPC, the opportunity to watch and engage with the Olympics and Paralympics into a Virtual Universe for the first time,” said Gary Zenkel. “Roblox is today’s most dynamic platform to deliver this experience to a young American audience hungry to connect to the Paris Olympics in ways they love to interact with big events. From the ultimate Olympic Obby, to Mike Tirico welcoming aspiring broadcasters, to watching the best moments from the Games with your friends, to shopping at the Team USA store and interacting with Olympians and Paralympians in Paris.”
“Today’s launch on Roblox hits on two of our big objectives for the Paris 2024 Games – hyping the team by highlighting their personality and performances and growing fandom with the next generation of Team USA fans,” added Katie Bynum Aznavorian, chief strategy and growth officer at the USOPC. “This first-of-its-kind experience, along with other initiatives, such as Team USA Creators, will allow fans to follow and engage with the Games in entirely new ways.”
In addition to the Team USA Ultimate Obby, available just for fans in the U.S., the International Olympic Committee has launched an additional experience on Roblox, available for fans globally. Be sure to check out the portal in the Team USA experience to transport to the Olympic World presented by Visa, where fans can find the Olympic Shop for unique Olympic-branded gear, an Olympic-themed museum and several additional mini-games inspired by Olympic sports.
The Team USA Ultimate Obby Roblox experience was developed in partnership with Monks, the global, purely digital, unitary operating brand of S4Capital plc. With a legacy of innovation and specialized expertise, Monks combines an extraordinary range of global marketing and technology services to accelerate business possibilities and redefine how brands and businesses interact with the world. Its integration of systems and workflows delivers unfettered content production, scaled experiences, enterprise-grade technology and data science fueled by AI—managed by the industry’s best and most diverse digital talent—to help the world’s trailblazing companies outmaneuver and outpace their competition.
About USOPC & Team USA
Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee serves as both the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States. The USOPC is focused on protecting, supporting and empowering America’s athletes, and is responsible for fielding U.S. teams for the Olympic, Paralympic, Youth Olympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games, and serving as the steward of the Olympic and Paralympic movements in the U.S. For more information, visit TeamUSA.org.
About NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies. We create world-class content, which we distribute across our portfolio of film, television, and streaming, and bring to life through our theme parks and consumer experiences. We own and operate leading entertainment and news brands, including NBC, NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC Sports, Telemundo, NBC Local Stations, Bravo, USA Network, and Peacock, our premium ad-supported streaming service. We produce and distribute premier filmed entertainment and programming through Universal Filmed Entertainment Group and Universal Studio Group,and have world-renowned theme parks and attractions through Universal Destinations & Experiences. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.