UFC ultimate Staredown

The challenge

On fight night, UFC fans draw the biggest subscriber audiences in the world. The UFC brand wanted to ensure they retained their attention through social and so set the task of devising an entertaining and compelling way to connect with their audience and bring them back before every major event.

The opportunity

Staredowns in the UFC feature some of the most tense, anything-could-happen moments in sport. We saw the perfect chance to pitch an idea for a game based on the staredown that would reflect the same hype, drama and intensity for a fanbase that was as passionate about the sport as the contenders themselves.

How it works

Players were driven to the game through social. After logging in, they reached a home screen where they could play the game, see the rules, show off their best scores and read up on each fighter’s stats. After every game, the player received a time-lapse of their facial expressions which could be shared on social.

E-motion

Using webcams or smartphones, fans were challenged to face the 4 biggest contenders featured in UFC 242 to a virtual staredown. To win, they had to react to their opponents emotions. In order to track and score the players’ emotions in real-time, we used Microsoft Oxford, an intelligent API that was trained to map facial expressions by recognising small changes in features.

Desktop version