Shredders’ 540INDY Invitational

Shredders is a snowboard game, a passion project ‘for riders, by riders’. In the game, leading brands like The North Face, Vans and Volcom are flanked by 540INDY, a fictional brand that allows creators to constantly explore the boundary between reality and fiction. In 2022, they organised Shredders’ 540INDY Invitational, a virtual snowboard competition that builds a bridge between the gaming community and the real world of snowboarding. More than 300 players from 31 countries took part in the qualifiers and the top eight were invited to the final, which was streamed on YouTube. The broadcast contained all the ingredients of well-known formats, including professional commentators and judges, and united thousands of gamers, snowboarders and fans.

The jury on Shredders’ 540INDY Invitational:

Shredders’ 540INDY Invitational is a complete project bringing together technology, immersive worlds and fashion. A good marriage between virtual and real environment, perfectly tailored to the target group, which participated in large numbers. This is a great exploration of what a potential future for brands could be like in a digital world.

What does this award mean to you?

Many artistic disciplines come together in the production of a video game. The energy that comes when creative people work together freely is very inspiring. It makes you want to experiment, and that’s what we did with Shredders’ 540INDY Invitational. Exploring boundaries, as alternative marketing, but mainly out of curiosity. Being rewarded for this feels like winning a prize for having fun. We’re stoked!

How did the idea for this project come about?

Shredders is a passion project of a small but very dedicated group of people, game developers and snowboarders. We draw inspiration from previous games, but also from snowboard films and events. Shredders’ 540INDY Invitational is based on existing formats such as LAAX Open, X Games, Swatch Nines, etc.: invitational snowboard competitions, which are broadcast online. What if we were to organise something like that in-game, with a real-world setting? Something that would really bring the gaming community and the snowboard world together…

Do you have any further plans for this project?

In the initial brainstorming sessions on Shredders’ 540INDY Invitational we had no idea what we were doing. The project took shape as we were working on it. The execution required a serious effort from our entire team and a lot of external partners. Do we want to repeat that tour de force? With our experience and the script of the first edition in the bag, a second should be easier. The feedback was excellent and it was great to make. So there's a good chance we'll push on with it.