The Tron Legacy ARG is a 360 degree experience packed with mysterious websites, casual games, world-wide scavenger hunts, location based entertainment, exclusive giveaways, direct mail, custom produced audio and video content, mobile, social networking tie-ins, daredevil stunts, embedded clues in traditional advertising, and live epic underground events... all adding up to make Tron Legacy the most anticipated film of 2010.

The brief was to ignite diehard fans of the original and attract a younger, broader movie-going audience. The solution was to give players a key role, through a grassroots organization called "Flynn Lives," where millions of players around the world have been recruited into an alternate reality experience that explores the extended story between the release of the original 1982 film, and the sequel to be released in December 2010. Flynn Lives has united the global community to collaborate together on the digital breadcrumb trail left behind in all things Tron.






The TRON Legacy 360 Experience is centered on the internet. Starting with an underground movement called FLYNN LIVES,
dozens of in-fiction websites were created to immerse fans into the world of TRON and its fiction.





The TRON Legacy 360 Experience is about active engagement. As the audience falls through one rabbit hole after another, they discover things to do around every corner.


As the narrative progressed, fans uncovered a locker belonging to Kevin Flynn's son, Sam. Inside, fans found a custom recorded video regarding their search for his father, an MP3 player containing tracks from the film's soundtrack composers - Daft Punk, and a puzzle hidden in the pages of a book, leading to a new URL.

When the original TRON movie was released in 1982, the audience was introduced to an arcade game created by Jeff Bridges' character, Kevin Flynn. That game was titled Space Paranoids, and was only ever seen as a game played in the film. In 2010, a real, working version of the previously unreleased classic was programmed and made available online, complete with hidden codes on each level that unlocked exclusive film assets. The buzz hit gamers all over the web.

Before Kevin Flynn disappeared, it was rumored that he was working on something that would change everything. Charting a new path through the digital frontier, his work would pave they way for new ideas about technology, science, religion, evolution, and more. As the search for him continued, fans discovered a copy of an old work server - a recreation of the computer interface seen in the TRON Legacy
movie trailer.

By entering codes spread across all the different elements of the campaign, digital assets and concept art from the film were unlocked.

Tapping into the heart of gamer culture, a video game challenge was launched testing players knowledge of both classic and current day game titles. From Burger Time and Frogger, to Call of Duty and Halo, the challenge sparked a huge online following, led players to new TRON websites, and rewarded players that finished with personalized
custom collectibles.



Active participants of the TRON Legacy 360 Experience were surprised and rewarded for their efforts with limited-edition custom produced collectibles sent directly to their homes.

Following Flynn Lives closely, fans were given the opportunity to forge their very own Encom employee badges complete with their picture and unique i.d. number. Thousands were sent to 47 different countries around the world - each with a QR code linking to the Encom Employee Intranet which contained regularly updated clues
and story.



The TRON Legacy 360 Experience generated intrigue and discussion early in the campaign, by reaching out to influential film, game, and comic book bloggers.




The original TRON film featured a beloved iconic character named 'Bit' - a floating geometric shape that could only answer in the form of binary by shifting its shape. To grab bloggers attention, a few hundred ‘Bits’ were custom made on 3D printers and sent to them in plain cardboard boxes with "/zerohour" handwritten inside.



Armed with this clue, their readers quickly discovered a mysterious binary
countdown online.


The first package received by bloggers not only peaked their interest, but also included content for their websites. To kick off the campaign only a few dozen packages were mailed out that contained two 1980's style video game tokens for Flynn's Arcade, and a USB flash drive. On the drive, was an animated GIF with an encrypted piece of code to be posted on their blogs. There were five different animated gifs, that fans had to find on the different sites, piece together, and decipher - leading them to the "Flynn Lives" and "Home of Tron" websites and a countdown to the San Diego Comic Con event.




At key moments in the campaign, the Tron universe seeped into the real world through special in-fiction live events and global scavenger hunts allowing fans to 'step into the movie'.



A countdown on FlynnLives.com pointed to a meet-up location, and ticked away until 9:30PM on the most attended day of the world's biggest comic book convention. 600 fans showed up and went on a blacklight scavenger hunt through the city leading to embedded coordinates within posters, needed to construct a lightcycle path to the event's secret location.


Secret codes hidden in 'Space Paranoids' levels, combined with a black light clue found on a t-shirt given away at the arcade, allowed the global audience online to unlock hi-def test footage for the
new movie.

Once there, players were transported to the 80's as the fully functional arcade broke down the barriers between reality and fiction. Fifteen minutes in, the neon flickered and a hidden door behind the Tron machine opened up to allow players to get "on the grid" to see a full-scale lightcycle from the new film.



That weekend alone: Thousands of fans visited the secret arcade each night, there were 4,000,000+ downloads of the new Tron Legacy test footage, and 500,000+ members joined the Flynn Lives organization online.


Bringing the fiction of Tron Legacy to life, a press conference was staged in San Francisco during Wondercon 2010 with a live performance featuring two of the original stars of the film: Bruce Boxleitner (Alan Bradley) and Cindy Morgan (Yori). The press conference featured a no-expense spared announcement of a new videogame by the fictional software company, ENCOM using high definition programmable LED screens and show lights.

Hundreds of players met and organized beforehand to interrupt the conference and highlight the search for Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges' character). They were upstaged, however, by the arrival of an ENCOM helicopter and skydiver, who flew over and amazed the crowd by jumping out over the event. The jumper was none other than Sam Flynn, son of missing Kevin Flynn, played by newcomer Garrett Hedlund.


It was the movie brought to life, introducing a new character in the franchise while celebrating the older ones, and creating a real participating moment for fans.

800 live participants
2M+ active players online
2.2M impressions earned media
Thousands of newspaper, blogs, tweets and online forum posts




Alternate Reality Games are social by nature. They require the collaboration and resources of the ‘hive mind’ to uncover new rabbit holes, sift through clues, solve puzzles, and piece together the narrative. The Tron Legacy 360 Experience is a prime example of this. Fans across the world have banded together on discussion boards, wikis, movie blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and more to organically share their experiences and spread the word.

Digital achievement badges earned through active participation in the experience have become status symbols within the TRON Legacy communities.



By actively engaging the community to bring the fiction to life, the Tron Legacy 360 Experience has gained a user base of millions of movie goers, and has created a constant churn
of tens of millions of overwhelmingly positive media impressions through online press, blogs and postings.