HP Gave NFTs as Birthday Gifts to 575 Gamers in China

Happy 18th birthday, here’s an NFT. Now, go play video games all day long!

Last year, China restricted young gamers from playing for more than three hours per week. Upon turning 18, however, they can spend all day in front of screens, zapping this and that to their heart’s delight.

HP recently helped 575 such folks celebrate in style, through an activation called “Welcome to Gamerhood,” with NFTs as gifts.

To promote the client’s Omen laptop brand, Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai, animators at Strange Beast and artist Joe Melhuish created this fantastical coming-of-age video:

Through a social-media push, HP gifted all 575 frames of the film to Chinese gamers who turned 18 in January.

“The idea originated from the insight that gamers turning 18 this year means they are entering into a world of gaming without restrictions,” W+K creative director Dennis Kung and associate creative director Nick Partyka tell Muse. “This led to the idea of birthday gifts, but they had to be something truly special and one-of-a-kind.”

Hey, how about NFTs?

“They seemed like the perfect gift, given the current craze in tech and gaming culture. Plus, it’s a gift that can’t be replicated,” say Kung and Partyka. “Since the sense of community is important for gamers, we found a way to connect all the NFTs to tell a celebratory story” presented in the short film.

Each NFT character draws inspiration “from popular game types,” they say. “We wanted to represent the characters from across the gaming spectrum.”

Examples include this intergalactic hero who towers over her adversaries, representing strong female gamers:

Blocky skeletons and zombies from Sandbox gave rise to this bony fellow:

And we’d love to play as “Mech” in a futuristic first person shooter:

“We threw some easter-eggs in there for gamers to discover,” the CDs say. “For example, we added this man in reference to the famous clip across Chinese social media of a streaker celebrating when the Chinese team EDG won the esports championship this year.”

Below, check out all 575 frames from the animation. Click to enlarge.