The BBC has taken the unprecedented step of bringing its General Election coverage to Roblox as it seeks to connect with young voters under the age of 25. With the UK due to go to the polls tomorrow, the BBC has updated its Wonder Chase experience, which has already introduced content from Doctor Who, Match of the Day, and EastEnders to the platform. Players can interact with Downing Street and seek out ballot boxes in the game. They can claim Larry the Cat as a Roblox pet if they can find all the ballot boxes. As part of the experience, BBC News presenters including Laura Kuenssberg, Clive Myrie, and Jeremy Vine will share entertaining facts about elections.
Fiona Campbell, Controller of Youth Audience for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer, said the updating of the Roblox experience to include election coverage was an example of innovation. “We are extremely pleased to see how BBC Wonder Chase has rapidly attracted the under 25 Roblox audience to games from their favourite BBC shows such as Doctor Who, Match of the Day, The Next Step, and Glow Up. This latest update for the General Election is the latest innovation in our Roblox experience offering an engaging and fun way to learn more about the country’s election whilst interacting with our top political experts!”.
BBC Children’s and Education Director Patricia Hidalgo said the broadcaster had a strong history of explaining news and current affairs to children, “Children can now interact and play with the election news broken down into a fun game”. The platform’s engagement with politics follows comments made by AJ Tracey to NME about the UK’s imminent General Election. The artist said that “anything but the Tories” would be ideal.
It was not the only political issue to arise at Glastonbury festival over the weekend. The Last Dinner Party used its set to argue for “fucking empathy” among voters. “I think we all know who we are voting for, but it doesn’t end with the Tories being kicked out,” said vocalist Abigail Morris. “It really is up to us, the people, to make the change.”
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