STOCKHOLM PRIDE | LOS SANTOS PRIDE | 2017
They built an indestructible parade into the most violent game on earth / STOCKHOLM PRIDE "LOS SANTOS PRIDE"
They put a pride parade into the world of GTA5 that absolutely cannot be destroyed. In a city where you're allowed to run over pedestrians and shoot criminals, they made the one thing you can't attack—and thinking about what that means gives you chills.
The problem
GTA5 is one of the best-selling games of all time, but the series has also repeatedly stirred controversy over its rampages, violence, and portrayal of women. Against that backdrop of a world built on aggression, Stockholm Pride was searching for a way to spread understanding of LGBTQ+ people.
The insight
GTA is praised for its incredible attention to detail, but it's also a game that's constantly criticized for its violence and depiction of women. Pride, on the other hand, is a celebration of love and equality—the two worlds are fundamentally at odds. According to the creators at Garbergs, it was exactly this clash that made the project resonate so widely.
The idea
They built a digital pride parade inside the most violent game in the world, made it free for anyone to download, and let players bring it into their own game. 70 NPCs march carrying rainbow flags and signs of solidarity with the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting—and no matter how much you shoot them or run them over, they're the one thing in the game that can't be destroyed. To pull it off, two people from Garbergs reached out through Skype and online forums to gather legendary game mod makers from around the world. One of the people who led development said, "It's not about preaching—it's about showing that love always wins over hate."
What happened
Media around the world picked up the story immediately after it launched, with international coverage pouring in within just hours of release. Combined views on YouTube and Facebook topped 6 million, and the campaign won Gold in the Innovation category at the 2017 Cannes Lions.
Afterthought
What's amazing is that the message—"making something that should be destructible, deliberately indestructible"—isn't delivered through copywriting, but through the language of game design itself. And it's genuinely moving that mod makers from all over the world pitched in on their own time to make it happen. Love doesn't have zero attack power—it has infinite defense.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2017
