Goodbye virtual goodies, hello real-life prizes. In March 2018, Amazon set out to revolutionize the mobile gaming industry with the launch of GameOn, API technology that allows developers to add competitions to mobile games. With the launch, mobile gamers could compete in esports-like tournaments and win real prizes (fulfilled by Amazon) for the first time ever. In April, it was our job to launch the technology.

We launched at PAX East, a four-day event attracting 80K gamers from around the world. To highlight Amazon’s prize fulfillment, we built a physical loot box that dispensed winnings every hour — a real-life upgrade to the virtual loot box that gamers are accustomed to.

Over the course of four days, players racked up more than 12K scores and generated 1.2MM online impressions. Further, those who started playing couldn’t stop. Each player who joined the GameOn PAX experience played in over two full tournaments. We also hosted one epic dance party, but that’s neither here nor there.

I led a team of ideators and designers to concept and develop the program. In the early stages I personally sketched event footprint and user interaction formats. We then interfaced with Amazon's brand team to refine the graphics and messaging.