Subway Surfers creators Sybo are set to celebrate their title’s 11th anniversary with a real-world event collaborating with numerous attractions around their home city of Copenhagen.
The event, called Hoverboard Hunt will run through to June 5 and challenge players to travel across the city of Copenhagen to a number of attractions – including Copenhagen Airport, Royal Danish Library, BLOX, Creative Denmark and Tivoli Gardens, who are collaborating with Sybo for the event. The journey is intended to showcase the cultural influences which inspired Subway Surfers, as well as allow players to unlock in-game rewards by scanning QR codes hidden in each location, where Subway Surfers-themed graffiti will also decorate these hidden areas.
CEO of Sybo, Mathias Gredal Nørvig said, “We’ve long used Subway Surfers’ anniversary to celebrate our Danish roots and connect with our fanbase through fresh, interactive content.
“This year, we wanted to take a step further and give our players the opportunity to engage with the game outside of their mobile devices. We’re honoured to partner with some of the most esteemed landmarks in Copenhagen to bring the Subway Surfers universe to the real world for the very first time.”
Chief commercial officer at Tivoli Gardens, one of the locations involved in the event, Niels Folmann commented, “At Tivoli, we are always excited to see other renowned Copenhagen-based entertainment brands focused on promoting our city, so we are happy to be featured among other iconic destinations on the Hoverboard Hunt.
“We hope this will inspire even more Danish and foreign guests to visit Tivoli, which can now be experienced not only in real life, but also within the Subway Surfers mobile game!”
Celebrating a legend
The 11th anniversary of Subway Surfers is significant enough on its own as the title has managed to have an enduring presence on mobile, being the most downloaded game of the past decade. At a time when many games struggle to even last a few years, and the most important aspects are UA and retention, Subway Surfers is a huge success that developers Sybo are rightfully proud of.
But the real world event also indicates how mobile can support other businesses, with a number of businesses clearly seeing it as a great way to bring in customers and visitors.
Unlocking the secret of Subway Surfers’ success has been something nearly every observer of the mobile game industry has been clamouring for. But it may be that the secret to their success lies in the history of the title itself and how Subway Surfers went from a short, award-winning animated film to a mobile mega-hit.
