ABN AMRO bank is deploying augmented reality for the recruitment of new IT talent with the introduction of The Lockdown: the world’s first mobile AR escape room. The game challenges the player to help prevent a global financial catastrophe. With The Lockdown you use augmented reality technology to create an escape room from every room through your smartphone. The app was presented at The Next Web Conference and is part of a broader recruitment campaign by the bank.

The game takes place in the year 2028. Cryptocurrency is now the only valid currency, but due to a hack by a notorious cyber criminal, millions of people are under threat of losing access to their wallet. To save the world from a financial catastrophe, players are challenged to solve problems with themes such as information security and blockchain. Through several steps, the players help Interpol find out where the hacker is residing. The difficulty level of the assignment is determined by the path people choose.

Relevant to tech experts

The Lockdown is part of a wider ABN AMRO recruitment campaign. “The demand for digital talent has increased enormously in recent years. We have invested in order to be relevant to this target group as a bank. A distinctive approach is required for this,” says Maarten Bokhoven, Head of Employer Branding at ABN AMRO. “Innovation is extremely important to us. IT specialists face fundamental challenges and have a major social impact. These are all elements that also appear in The Lockdown.” 

Partners

ABN AMRO collaborated with creative digital agency code d’azur for the strategy, concept and realisation of the game and the campaign. Jeroen Thissen, Creative Director at the agency explains: “At the bank, as an IT professional, you are engaged in challenging digital innovations. However this is not yet necessarily how IT professionals perceive it. Therefore we had to come up with something that would make us stand out to them. We know these professionals love challenges and are interested in technological innovation. We combined this in the app. ABN AMRO placed their trust in us to develop the escape room of the future. And we are extremely happy they did.”

The puzzle mechanism in the game was designed by Sherlocked, known for the popular escape rooms in the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam. In addition to the app, the campaign for The Lockdown includes an online video, rich media banners and a cinema trailer.

Blackout during the TNW Conference

The Lockdown was launched at the technology focused TNW Conference in the style of the game. During an announcement by founder Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, there was a blackout and the hacker presented himself to the audience via large screens. After this, participants were able to directly download the game using a QR code on the screen.

The Lockdown can be downloaded from today through the App Store and the Google Play Store.