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Digital agencies and LGBT+ advocacy groups have taken to FIFA-sanctioned virtual worlds to protect discrimination in World Cup host country Qatar. Global non-profit All Out collaborated on a protest in Roblox’s FIFA World in conjunction two Swiss agencies, Bandara and Freundliche Grüsse, for a campaign called “Unplay the Hate.” In a separate initiative, All Out worked with AlmapBBDO in Brazil for an activation in the EA Sports FIFA game called “Play with Love.” 

“We thought it's not going to be possible for anyone to protest in Qatar, but then seeing the virtual version of Qatar — FIFA World in Roblox — we thought, ‘Hey, we could have a protest in virtual Qatar because this is the place where also LGBT activists can safely protest,’” says Daniel Gremli, a co-founder at Gremli, which specializes in AR and VR content.

The two Zurich-based agencies contacted All Out, who quickly partnered on the idea. Just before Qatar hosted the first match of the World Cup, 17 characters in Roblox’s FIFA World all put on avatar shirts with a single letter on them. They then arranged themselves in digital Doha to spell out “FIFA Unplay the Hate.”

Gremli says they did not contact either Roblox or FIFA in advance and have not heard from them since. He also says the reaction from others witnessing the protest in FIFA World was minimal but believes it’s a harbinger for future digital advocacy.

“I think it's just a new way to protest because, as we know, more and more people spend more and more time in virtual worlds,” Gremli says. “So then I think almost automatically activism in these virtual worlds is also going to get more and more important. So I think this is not the last metaverse protest that we saw.”

The other activation from All Out enables gamers on EA Sports' FIFA franchise to download a digital version of the LGBT+-supporting “One Love” armband for use in the game. FIFA prohibited the real-world national teams from wearing them during the World Cup.

The Brazilian soccer magazine Corner also utilized a digital space to stage a protest by creating a new augmented reality Snapchat filter for fans to digitally transform any flag into the pride flag.