CLIENT

The Finnish National Gallery

Concept Design

The Finnish National Gallery

Adventure Club

Transparent Eyeball

VCC

Production

Adventure Club

[ Overview ]

Fine art meets gaming like never before: Bringing Finland’s cultural heritage to Fortnite

The Finnish National Gallery is reimaging the traditional gallery experience, aim to be among the leading digital service providers in Europe. By targeting younger audiences and broadening the ways they showcase their collections, the gallery tackles the problem of only 2% of their art being on display, with the remainder stored in archives.

Recognizing the potential of gaming to engage younger, digital-native audiences, the gallery launched Art Heist on Fortnite Creative, a platform with over 650 million registered users.

Art Heist combines art, gaming, and education by showcasing famous paintings from the gallery’s archives in an interactive, competitive environment. This custom game mode not only engages players in a dynamic heist scenario but also introduces them to Finnish cultural heritage, integrating a pedagogical approach to learning through play.

01·Challenge

Art Heist

Solving the visibility problem

The Finnish National Gallery, as Finland’s largest art museum, faces significant challenges that impede its mission to develop Finnish cultural heritage and make art widely accessible. Presently, only 2% of its extensive art collection is on display, which restricts public access to a broader range of artworks. Additionally, the concentration of all galleries in Helsinki limits the reach of the national art collection to those outside the capital, hindering regional cultural engagement. The gallery’s struggle to connect with younger audiences also presents a barrier to fostering a lasting appreciation for the arts among future generations. Addressing these challenges is vital to ensure the gallery fulfills its role in promoting and preserving Finnish culture.

Limited exhibition space

Only 2% of the extensive art collection is currently on display.

Geographic concentration

All galleries are located in Helsinki, restricting national reach.

Engaging youth

The gallery faces challenges in connecting with younger audiences and fostering lasting appreciation for the arts.

02·approach

Art Heist

Blending education and entertainment in a digital arena

Through gaming, we have been able to offer interactive and participatory learning experiences that deepen the understanding of art. Acknowledging the educational benefits of gaming, which can increase engagement and retention by up to 60%, the gallery has strategically selected Fortnite’s creative mode for this initiative. Given Fortnite’s massive global user base, particularly among 18-24-year-olds, it presents a unique opportunity to introduce the gallery’s cultural content to a new, tech-savvy generation.

Discover iconic works in Fortnite

Building on earlier experiences of creating a virtual gallery, Art Heist is tapping into Fortnite’s fast-paced gameplay. By combining interactive entertainment with education, it connects with young gamers in a way that feels natural and native to the platform, a capture the flag competition between two teams. Iconic artworks from the Finnish National Gallery are at the heart of the game’s story as the treasures one needs to steal and protect, making the experience both fun and educational while sparking interest in art. This is also the first time National Gallery utilised 3D scanning to capture a sculpture into the game play world.

Street in
Auvers-sur-Oise

Vincent van Gogh

Under the Yoke

Eero Järnefelt

La Pleureuse

Ville Vallgren

Two Sisters

Cornelis de Vos

Kullervo Departs for the War

Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Landscape
in Tahiti

Paul GauguiN

Fairy Tale I

Hugo Simberg

This approach ensures that the gallery’s initiative is educational and highly engaging, connecting with young audiences in a space they are passionate about. By doing so, the gallery effectively makes cultural heritage accessible and relevant to the digital age, ensuring that art continues to be a vibrant part of contemporary cultural dialogue.

01·Challenge

02·APPROACH

03·SOLUTION

04·RESULTS

Solution

03·solution

Art Heist

Unlocking Finnish art through play

Art Heist brings two teams into a competitive setting with custom-made game mechanics, where players must locate and retrieve famous paintings hidden in environments that reflect their themes, all while defending their own gallery from rival attacks. Iconic works from the Finnish National Gallery are seamlessly integrated into the gameplay, with each piece accompanied by a brief contextual explanation to create an educational and immersive experience. The project involved extensive coding, design, and game asset production, ensuring a polished and tailored experience that aligns seamlessly with the gameplay and educational goals.

Molded by expert player feedback

Multiple testing sessions and interviews were conducted with Fortnite hardcore players to ensure the game met the expectations of the most demanding target group. Their feedback was instrumental in refining the mechanics, design, and overall experience, resulting in a tested and proven concept that delivers both engagement and educational value.

A World shaped by iconic artworks

We created a bespoke island environment, intricately designed to reflect and complement the art pieces it showcases. Inspired by iconic works such as Eero Järnefelt’s Under the Yoke, the island seamlessly blends natural elements like burned forests with thematic landscapes that bring the artworks to life.

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Under the Yoke (Burning the Brushwood)
Eero Järnefelt 1893

Beyond off-the-shelf mechanics

To enhance engagement, we developed bespoke game mechanics, inventory systems, game state management, shaders, and user interfaces that go far beyond off-the-shelf solutions. These systems were designed to provide seamless functionality while aligning with the themes and requirements of the experience.

From bronze to bytes

We created a wide range of custom assets, including landscapes, 3D models, textures, sculptures, and lighting, to bring the project’s vision to life. Additionally, we used photogrammetry to transform physical sculptures into detailed digital 3D models, preserving their essence while seamlessly integrating them into the experience.

04·results

Art Heist

Game engagement of 760 hours of playtime is equivalent to 14 weeks of physical museum operating hours (not far off from Gothic Modern, open for 16 weeks)

Results summary

Total Active Players

Over 2500 players in the first month

Peak Active Players

495 players on the best day

Total Plays

The first week saw over 2100 plays, 1.3 plays per player on average

Total Active Playtime

Over 760 hours of engagement

Peak Day Playtime

132 hours played in a single day

Average Session Length

Length: 12 minutes

Impressions

Peak day reaching over 400,000 impressions on Fortnite's front page. First month, 1,3M impressions.

Clicks to game page

On peak day, 1,700 clicks, first month over 8000 clicks.

Clickthrough rate

First Week CTR: 0.54%, First Month CTR: 0.60%

Ratings

High Ratings: 40% of players rated the experience 10/10, with 80% giving 8/10 or higher.

User Feedback

Compared favorably to other islands, with no ratings of 1/10 or 2/10 (vs. 16% for all islands).

User Feedback

71% of players rated the difficulty as “just right”, significantly outperforming the industry benchmark of 30% for all islands.

Art Heist

Fine art meets gaming like never before: Bringing Finland’s cultural heritage to Fortnite