Gameloft and LEGO® Friends launch ‘Heartlake Friendship Zone’, a Creative Kid-Safe Virtual Experience

Make friends with the new LEGO® Friends characters and interact with other fans in a new virtual gamified world that celebrates diverse friendships.

Billund – June 20th, 2023 – Gameloft for brands, a leader in the creation of gamified experiences, in collaboration with the LEGO Group announce the launch of LEGO® Friends ‘Heartlake Friendship Zone’, a fun, interactive and immersive environment available for free on mobile and desktop.

In the LEGO Friends ‘Heartlake Friendship Zone’, children and their parents or caretakers can create an avatar which represents themselves, choosing from different skin tones, eye colours, hairstyles, facial expressions, and other personalization options such as vitiligo. All in all allowing kids to get creative with 6,000 unique combinations.

Kids can navigate a recreated district of Heartlake City, interact with each other using emojis and pre-set dialogs, embark on quests, and complete fun mini-games. The newly introduced eight LEGO Friends characters such as Zac, Nova and Autumn, welcome the user to the game and act as encouraging friends throughout the experience.

Over the last three years Gameloft has seen kids migrating into digital gaming environments to continue their friendships even if they can’t meet in person. This media partnership recognizes how kids have adapted to playing and making friends online and offers the chance for kids to play and engage with other kids with the reassurance of the ‘Heartlake Friendship Zone’ being a completely kid-safe environment.

From the moment kids step into the ’Heartlake Friendship Zone’, they can expect a virtual world that helps them learn about friendship, applying these skills to real friendships in the modern world.

“With 83% of gamers saying games help them make new friends*, we’re not only thrilled to launch this innovative experience, but all the more convinced it’s really serving the LEGO Friends purpose to make children better friends,” says Jean-Baptiste Godinot, Global Sales Director at Gameloft for brands. “Our longstanding expertise in gaming and ongoing commitment to quality experiences helped us a great deal in delivering an environment that’s welcoming to kids of all walks of life.”

Over a decade on from the launch of LEGO Friends, the LEGO Group has re-imagined the Friends Universe, with the introduction of new diverse characters, to enable more children to feel represented during play. This next generation has been designed to celebrate and reflect diverse friendships in the modern world.

With this new experience kids can interact with characters from the LEGO Friends world – featuring a whole host of new characters to relate to – and kids can connect with each other in a fun and safe environment.

“The launch of the ‘Heartlake Friendship Zone’ marks another significant milestone in providing a safe and positive online environment for kids”, said Tracie Chiarella, Head of Product for LEGO Friends at the LEGO Group. “As technology continues to play an increasingly important role in our lives, it’s crucial we prioritize the safety and well-being of our children. By creating a platform which offers a secure and enjoyable digital experience, we are empowering the next generation to explore friendships online in a way that is both fun and safe.”

The LEGO Friends ‘Heartlake Friendship Zone’ experience is globally available and can be accessed here: https://heartlakefriendshipzone.com/

---

*ESA, 2022 Essential Facts About the Video Game Industry – June 2022